Decisions
by nhraluver
Summary: Takes place after Episode 11, with some fluff between CC and KJ KS. Kate can't decide between Sawyer and Jack. Read to find the rest of the story...IM BACK GUYS! CHAPT 22 UP!
1. Tension

DISCLAIMER: I do not own any characters from ABC's Lost. I only own this plot that I made!

TAKES PLACE: This takes place after Episode 11 where Jack and Kate found Charlie. This is my idea of what I would like to happen next. CONTAINS SOME SPOILERS!!!

RATED: PG-13 for some language and adult content

GENRE: Drama/Romance/Action

SUMMARY: Kate can't decide if she loves Sawyer or Jack. Jack gets jealous of Sawyer and jumps him. Claire gets found. Kate, Boone, and Sawyer investigate the metal object that Boone and Locke found in the jungle. Romances are CC and KJ/KS.

**CHAPTER ONE: Tension**

Kate stood on the moist sand, staring into the ocean, thinking. The beach was so tranquil. It was a good escape from the caves. She didn't even really want to go to the caves. She was kind of…pulled along. But heck, she wasn't even sure of what she wanted anymore. She lost thought of her desires. Everything was so hard to get through lately. No one understood her. But standing there on the sand was the most calming thing she could do at that point.

She thought about lots of things. They found Charlie, hanging from a tree. Jack wouldn't quit until he found them, which was good, because if he hadn't pounded the life out of Charlie, he would've died. He hadn't spoken a word for several hours. She knew how he felt for Claire. It was easy to see. Where was Claire? Why did Ethan take her? Was she okay? Did she have the baby yet? Kate breathed in and sighed as if it would rid her off her troubles. Nope. They were still there. She thought about Jack. How did she really feel about him? Did she love him? Or Sawyer?

That was another thing on her mind. Sawyer. The kiss. It all came back like it happened seconds ago. She wasn't sure if she wanted to kiss him, or if she was just doing it because she had to. And after discovering something troubling about his past made her almost…pity him. And she knew it was wrong. Sawyer was a brick wall. No one came in, and nothing went out. No emotions. No feelings. No…nothing. Did she love him or Jack? Would her feelings betray her thoughts, knowing that it was wrong to fall for the stubborn redneck? Then, as if on cue, he was standing just a few feet away, behind her.

"Hey, Freckles."

Kate lifted her eyes to the ocean from the sand. She acted as if she didn't hear him.

"So what is it about that big blue thing that just makes you stop functioning?"

Should she answer him? Pretending not to want to talk to him was worse than actually talking to him.

"It's peaceful. Nice to get away from everything."

"Like what? Or who?"

"Everything. Gives me time to think."

"Bout what?"

She continued to stare out into the sunset. She wanted to walk away from Sawyer, afraid she would pour out her feelings to him. Then, she punished herself for thinking such a thing. But then again, walking away without answering might be childish, and she didn't want to give off an impression like that.

"All of the stuff going on around me."

With his hands in his pockets, he slowly walked up next to her, keeping a foot's distance between them. She could tell he didn't have a shirt on. He gazed out with her, a smile on his face.

"Might be nice to have someone to talk to." Sawyer told her.

Kate knew he was right. But the thing was that he was hinting at him. Opening up to Sawyer wasn't going to help anything.

"Not all the time."

There was an awkward silence between them for a moment. Then Sawyer spoke.

"Alright then. I guess I'll go."

He began to walk away. _Wait, don't go,_ she thought. But she would regret saying it later on. Was he trying to show her that there was more to him than what she had seen of him? Maybe she should just give him a chance.

"Do you think they're coming?"

He stopped and turned around.

"What?"

"The rescue boats…do you think they'll come?"

He slowly came back.

"Now that's something to talk about. And do I? Well…we ain't exactly anywhere close to Miami. Pitching a tent might be a good idea. How bout you?"

"Maybe they will. You never know."  
"Don't hold your breath, sweetheart. Like the pilot said, we're 1000 miles off course. Until then…might as well get comfortable."

"Sounds like you're not excited about leaving."

"As if I have a life to go back to."  
"Then maybe this whole island might be a good thing to look at. Starting over."

"I already have my reputation here and I don't intend to change it."

And she had been wrong. He was still a brick wall. Why was he like this? She turned to face him, a disgusted look on her face.

"Do you want to be hated?"

"What?"

"It all comes down to that. Answer the question. Do you or do you not want to be hated?"

He stared at her, his eyebrows arched into a confused look.

"Because if you do, that would explain everything. Why you jumped Boone instead of just telling him that you didn't have the inhalers…and why Sayid seems to be your target when everything goes wrong…and why you have to act like a player just to get me to kiss you?"

There was a pause as she stared into his eyes.

"You don't have to be like this. People would give you a chance."

"And what makes you say that?"

"It only makes it harder on all of us when you're not."

"And I should care?"  
"The only way we're going to survive on this island is if we all stick together. And as much as you try to act like you have no feelings…I know that there is someone inside there."

"So you care about me?"

"I never said that."  
"That's what's coming across."  
"Care about you? I pity you. I pity you for the way you are. Nobody wants to be around you."

"Looks like you do."

She stared into his eyes. Then, she looked down.

"Face it, Freckles. I'm the only one on this island who understands you, and you with me. We're meant for each other."

She looked back up at him.

"You know it."

She kept her stare, trying to remain neutral.

"You may not believe it now, but you'll see it later."

They stared for a moment. Then, they were interrupted. Jack approached them.

"Something going on here?"

Kate's eyes went to the ground.

"Howdy, Doc. How's it goin?"

"Something wrong, Kate?"

"We're just having a chat." Sawyer said  
"I believe I was talking to Kate."

Sawyer kept the cheesy grin on his face.

"Everything was hunky-dory until you came in, so maybe you should go back to your surgery table and finish tearing someone's spine up."

"Who the hell are you to talk? Nobody wants you on this island anyway, so I think I'd just shut up if I were you."  
"Still worked up over the fact that there's something between Freckles and me and you can't get the Scarlet Lady's attention?"

"Hey!" Kate said. This was going to end before it started.

"Alright then," Sawyer said. "I guess I'll be on my way. See you later, Doc."

Sawyer started to walk away. Kate stared at him as he left.

"Everything okay with you? Did he do anything?"  
"No, Jack. I'm fine."  
"I don't think it's safe around that guy. God only knows the story behind him."

"Look, Jack, whatever it is going on between the two of you needs to end. We won't make it on this island the way we're going right now."

"It's no problem for me. Talk to Sawyer."

"I tried."  
"And?"

"And…I don't know. He doesn't want to change."

"Well, only one of us is going to come out in the end."

"Jack!"  
"I doubt it'll be him."

"Jack…"

"I'll see you later, Kate."

He walked away. Kate stared back at the ocean. She wasn't sure who she loved more. She did catch a glimpse of the real Sawyer a moment ago. He showed some affection for her, but then he closed up. Jack did care for her, but he appeared to be afraid to show his true feelings.

With one last look into the sunset, she headed back to the caves.


	2. Cries From the Jungle

**CHAPTER TWO: Cries from the jungle**

Kate awoke early the next morning. She found Michael, Walt, Charlie and Hurley still asleep around the almost dead fire. Not seeing Jack around, she piled some more wood onto the flicker. In moments, it built up. She looked around. Charlie slept on the dirt, a blanket around him. He stirred as he awoke. He had dark circles under his eyes. Kate was startled when she saw him.

"Kate? What are you doing up this early?"

"Not much. You sleep okay?"

"Not really."

Kate grinned sadly. She knew he was still completely worried about Claire, and she didn't blame him. She knew he loved her. She handed him a water bottle. He opened it and took a drink.

"Where's Locke and Boone?"

"Wait…they didn't come back?"

"Not that I know of."

She thought for a moment. They had been gone for a whole day. She knew Locke could take care of himself, but she still felt like she had to take an inventory of everyone in order to make sure everyone was okay. What if they had gotten kidnapped again? What if they were killed…by Ethan? Or the monster? Or…the others?

"Where's Jack?" Charlie asked.

"I haven't seen him yet."

"You just missed him." Sayid came over and grabbed a water bottle.

"Sayid! Why are you walking on your leg?" Kate asked.

"It feels better. Thank you."  
"And where is Jack?"  
"Last I saw he was heading to the beach."

The beach. Sawyer was at the beach. What was Jack doing over there?

"Why did he go to the beach?"  
"He didn't say. He came to check on me and said he was going to the beach ."

"Did Locke and Boone come back last night?"  
"Not that I know of."

Kate sighed. She thought for a moment. Should she go to the beach and get Jack, telling him they should send a search party, or should she just wait there? Her question was answered when Boone and Locke came staggering into camp, excited about something.

"Locke! You guys are back!" Kate said happily.

Charlie stood up.

"Did you find Claire? Or Ethan?"

"No, but we found a lead. Where's Jack?"  
"He's at the beach."

Shannon came out of one of the caves. She smiled when she saw Boone.

"Boone! You're back!"

She ran to him and hugged him.

"I'm glad you guys are okay." Kate said.

"What? You were worried about us?" Locke said as he grinned.

"Maybe." She grinned back, with relief that they were okay. "I'm going to go get Jack. I'll be back in about 20 minutes."

"Okay. We won't go anywhere."

Kate grabbed a water bottle and went on through the forest. She didn't want to just go to the beach to get Jack; she wanted to see if Sawyer was okay. It was clear to her that Jack was jealous of Sawyer but he didn't want to completely show it.

Suddenly, she heard a noise. Some rustling in the bushes. It sounded like it was about a hundred feet away. Then, she heard a scream. It sounded like it was Claire! But why would it be so close to where the caves and the beach were? She started running to the beach. She heard another scream! It was more distant, but she could still hear it. In a moment, she was on the sand. She ran to where Sawyer was. He was sitting in his airplane chair tanning.

"Sawyer! Where's Jack?"

"Oh, hey. Freckles. Back so soon?"  
"Where-is-Jack?"

"How the hell am I supposed to know?"

"Sayid said he came here, now where is he? It's important!"

"He didn't come by here."

"Did you see him at all?"

"Actually…come to think of it…you just missed him. He came over here minutes ago to get some water. Headed back into the jungle about 15 ago."

"Really?"

Jack was walking along the shore carrying some water bottles with him. She rushed up to him.

"Jack! I was coming from the caves and I heard a scream in the jungle. It was Claire."

"What?"  
"I came to get you because Locke and Boone came back and when I was on my way to the beach I heard Claire screaming in the jungle!"

"Are you sure it was Claire?"

"Either that or I'm going crazy."

"And what's this about Locke and Boone?"

"They came running back to the caves with something to tell you but you weren't there. I said I'd go get you."

"Right. Then we should get back."

"What's going on?"

Sawyer stood near a tree smoking.

"This doesn't concern you, Sawyer." Jack said as he hoisted an armload of wood over his shoulder. "It's not like you'd give a damn even if you knew. Come on, Kate. Let's get back to the caves."

"Well that's some pretty harsh things to say. Who said I wouldn't care? Try me!"

Jack glanced over at Kate.

"We don't have time for your games. Let's go, Kate."

He began to walk away. Kate stayed for a moment, and then followed.

"If it's about the pregnant gal…"

Jack and Kate stopped walking. He slowly turned to face Sawyer. He had his usual smirk on his face.

"What do you know about Claire?"

Sawyer looked down, still smiling. He looked back up and then flicked his cigarette off into the sand.

"Depends….what do you want to know?"

Kate could sense the tension between them. Sawyer was definitely going to tick Jack off, and as of right then, he had very little patience to deal with him.

"Tell me what you know, Sawyer."

Sawyer, still smiling, looked out to the ocean.

"Don't know much bout her…but earlier I heard something in the bushes…bout a hundred feet away. Then the little lady screamed. It sounded like they moved off…"

He looked to the right and pointed.

"That way."

Jack shook his head with disgust.

"All this happened and you didn't do a thing about it?"

"Well, Doc. I thought I'd leave the Hero stuff to you. Charming ladies and saving lives seems to be your business, so who am I to get in your way?"

Jack stepped threateningly closer to Sawyer.

"I didn't think you could become more of an ass, Sawyer, but I was wrong."

"Well if you wanna do something about it…go head."

"You guys!" Kate stopped the brawl.

The two stayed a foot away from each other. What was it about Sawyer? Helping others was a chore for him, not a second thought that it could save their lives.

"That's enough. Right now all we can do is go back to camp and find out what Locke needed to tell you."

"Are you serious? While Ethan is out there dragging Claire around? He might've killed the baby, or she might be on the edge of death!"

"You heard what Ethan said, Jack! If you keep following him, he'll kill her."

"So, what? Are we just gonna let him have his way?"

"We need to plan this over carefully. He's not stupid, Jack. And if you want to keep Claire alive, we need to find out what Locke was going to tell you."

Jack glanced from Kate to Sawyer. Kate looked over at Sawyer. After a moment, Jack stepped away from Sawyer, grabbed the wood and water bottles and started to head back through the jungle. Kate stayed behind for a moment.

"Well…what are you waiting for, Freckles? Jackass needs your help. So go."

"Why can't you just be part of something, Sawyer?"

"Excuse me?"

"A pregnant woman was kidnapped. She was maybe a hundred feet away from you but you were to busy sunning yourself to get up and do anything about it."

Staring into her eyes for a moment, all was quiet. Then, Kate headed back through the path Jack took. She met up with him in the jungle. Neither of them said a word to each other as they walked back, until…

"Jack…look."

He stopped. Kate was looking over in the bushes. A small white object sat atop the bush. Jack approached it and grabbed it. It was a white handkerchief. Not too big, but enough to gag someone.

"Why would it be so…out in the open?"

"I don't know…but it looks like they came by this way."

He looked ahead. The grass and bushes were parted from where someone had been walking through. Jack stood up and started following it.

"Jack! Wait!"

He ignored her and continued to run. With a sigh, she followed him. He was kneeling down on the dirt path holding something else. A thin needle.

"She was right…she was right about him."

Kate could tell Jack was angry with himself for not believing her.

"Is this the needle he used to inject her?" Kate asked.

"It looks like it…only it might not have been for the baby. They were probably trying to keep her quiet. That's why the gag is here and not on her."

"What are we going to do?"

It was quiet as Jack continued to think.

"Let's go back to the caves and hear Locke's story. Then we'll tell him about this."

It was quiet for a moment. Then, Jack stood up. He took the gag and tied it around the bottom of a tree nearby, sticking out just enough so they could find the place again.

"Let's go."


	3. A Lead

**CHAPTER THREE: A Lead**

Jack and Kate returned back to the caves. Locke approached them.

"We were getting worried about you. What happened?"

"We found this on our way back to the caves."

Jack showed Locke the needle. He handed it to him.

"Claire?"

"That was after we found the gag on the bush. Sawyer even said that he heard some screaming in the jungle."

"We should get a search party together."

"After you tell me what you came to tell me."  
"Well…shortly after we split up yesterday, Boone and I found something on the ground. It was like a metal door. We uncovered most of it, but not all of it. We think it might be helpful."

"We should go check it out." Kate said.  
"No, not when we're so close to finding Claire." Jack protested.

"Jack…"

"I'm not gonna let her die out there, Kate!"

"The door might help us figure something out."

He stared at her, then looked over to Locke.

"Just trust me on this, alright? I think we should check out the door and then send off a search party."

"She might be right, Jack. We should go with it."

He sighed. He looked from Kate to Locke.

"Well…how's about we…a few go to the door and some others go to find Claire. Kill two birds with one stone."

Kate glanced over at Locke.

"Yeah…that's good."

"What's happening?" Charlie stood up and approached them. "Are you going somewhere?"

"We found something in the jungle. A lead to where Claire might be."

"That's wonderful! I'm coming with you."

"Wait…we're going to have some people check out what Locke found and some go to find Claire."

"I'll go check out the door." Kate said. "I'll get some other people to come with me. How many?"

"Two more. I'll get on the path to find Claire."

"Jack…just don't…"

"Who's coming with?"

"Don't rush yourself. Ethan warned us once. He won't do it again."

"I can handle Ethan, Kate. Get some people to go with you."

"I'll go with you, Jack." Charlie volunteered.

"Charlie, I don't…"

"I have a better chance of dying here by sitting and waiting instead of going out in the jungle. Let me come."

"You're not fully rested, and Ethan knows-"

"I'm fine. I just…I want to get Claire back, Jack. I…I don't know what I'd…"

Kate felt sympathetic for Charlie. He certainly loved her. She knew he was right. If he wasn't with them looking for her, he would probably hurt himself. Intentionally, or not. Jack sighed.

"Alright. Locke?"

"I'll help you out. But how will Kate get to the door? Boone is the only other person who knows where it is."

"Then Boone'll have to go with her."

"Wait…where am I going?"

Boone had just come up to the group meeting.

"Boone," Locke said. "We need you to go with Kate. She's going to go find the door. Someone else will go with her. But the rest of us have to follow the lead we had on Claire."  
"Alright, no problem."

"Where's Sayid?" Jack asked.

"Jack, no. He's not all the way healed." Kate said.

"That's a little too far, Jack. We'll get somebody else." Locke said.

"I can help you out." Michael stood up and came over to Jack and Locke.

"What about Walt?" Locke said.

"He'll be fine here with Hurley and the others. Right now, this is about finding Claire. Let me help."

Locke sighed and looked over at Jack.

"Alright. We got our part together. Let's get going."

Locke grabbed his vest with knives, daggers, and other menacing weapons, grabbed some water bottles and started leaving. Michael and Charlie followed after him. Jack stayed behind for a moment to talk with Kate.

"Be careful, okay?"

Kate laughed. "Jack, I'm a big girl. I can take care of myself."

"There's no one left to get to help out."

"I have someone on mind."

"Who?"

Kate glanced away.

"Sawyer?" Jack was astonished.

"He can help out, Jack."

"If it's on his own will."

"If I'm going, I know he'll come with me."

"Alright…well…just…take care of yourself around him."

"I will. And don't push yourself so hard. Take it easy. There's three other people following you this time, and two of them aren't that strong. Just keep the pace steady. And…be careful."

"I will."

Kate smiled. Jack smiled back and then turned to head out and follow the other three. After a last stare at him, Boone approached her.

"So what's going on between you two?"

"Nothing. He's just…a good friend."

"So…who else are you getting to help us out?"

"You'll see when I get him. Wait here. I'll be back in 15."

Kate turned and left out through the jungle to the beach. When she arrived there, Sawyer was sitting back, his leopard spotted glasses with the pink tint shielding his eyes, no shirt on, reclining in the plane chair. _Why bother asking?_ Kate thought. But it was worth a try. She approached him.

"Hey there, Freckles. How is it in Cavetown?"

"We found a lead on Claire."

"Is that so?"

"Jack, Locke, Charlie, and Michael went out to follow it. Locke and Boone came back this morning saying that they found some type of a door on the ground where they were, so Boone and I are going out to check it out."

"Well, now, Freckles. I don't think you came all this way just to say that. What do you want?"

She hesitated to ask. She knew that if she asked him, he would live on it forever. But there was no one else left. Shannon, Walt, Sun, Jin, and Hurley were about the only other people. She had no choice.

"I need your help, Sawyer."

He laughed and removed the sunglasses. He looked up at her.

"Am I hearing you correctly, Freckles? You asking me for help?"

"Don't get too excited. There's no one else to ask. And if you want to change, well…now's your chance to show the other side of you."

"You think so, huh? Well…it's not like I have anything better to do. So…why not?"

"So that's a yes?"

"I guess so."

He stood up and put a t-shirt on.

"May be a good chance to get alone with you, huh?"

"Not quite. Boone is coming with us. So keep your distance."

"Well, I do love hard-to-get."

Kate rolled her eyes and started walking in through the jungle. She met back up with Boone who was explaining to Shannon where he was going. Apparently, she didn't like the idea of it.

"You can't leave me here, Boone! What am I supposed to do? Sit here and knit?"

"This is important, Shannon! It's not all about you. If I don't go, then Claire might be out there even longer."

"Oh, it's all about Claire, now, is it?"

"Are you hearing yourself? I'm telling you that I'm going out to try to help save a pregnant woman and you react by telling me you don't want me to go, because…cause you're bored?"

"Fine, then! Go! I'll stay here!"

"That's what I'm gonna do!"

Boone grabbed a water bottle and met up with Kate who was with Sawyer.

"Oh, no. Him?!"

"Who else should I take?"

"Anyone but him!"

"I'm glad I volunteered to be Mother Theresa, but some people just can't handle it."

"For all I know he's gonna cut my throat when I'm alone! I'm not going!"

"Boone, stop! We need you!"

"We?"

"Yes, we! You're the only other person who knows where the door is!"

Boone glanced back at Shannon, then back at Kate.

"Alright…but I'm doing it for Claire."

"Let's get going."

"Have fun, Boone. Bring me back a postcard!" Shannon said sarcastically.

"And while you're knitting, make me a nice scarf?"

"Go to hell!"

"That's enough!" Kate said. Did she always have to be the one to stop everything? "Shannon, you'll be just fine here. We need Boone's help."  
"Who do you think you are? My babysitter?"

"Shannon!" Boone said.

"Shut up, Boone! I don't give a crap if you go!"

"Then what's the big deal?"

Her lip quivered. Then she stomped off into the caves. Kate swallowed. Then, she started to walk off. Boone and Sawyer followed.

"So we have this guy directing us? Might as well have sent the pilot out to fly us to Australia without landing gear and a map!"

"Shut up, Sawyer! You didn't have to come."

"I'm doing it for you, sweetheart!"

"Go screw yourself."

After a moment, Boone led the way. Maybe getting the two together after all wasn't such a good idea. But she couldn't take anyone else with her. With a quiet sigh, she knew she would just have to play it along.


	4. Ethan Comes Out

**CHAPTER FOUR: Ethan comes out**

Michael, Charlie, Locke, and Jack had arrived back at the place where Jack left his marker. Everything looked just the same. Jack pointed to the spot where he found the needle.

"That's where I found it."

Locke went over to it. He knelt down and touched a twig that was snapped in half. He stood up and took a few steps forward. He was looking forwards, then stopped and slowly looked down. He lifted his foot up and looked down. Then, he looked forwards and ran a couple steps ahead. He knelt down again.

"What is it?" Jack asked. He approached him.

"Claire was in this exact spot."

"How do you know?" Charlie asked.

"Look back right there."

He pointed to where he was standing a few steps back. A small puddle of water was in the dirt.

"Okay, it's water. So?" Michael said.

"Now look at this."

Charlie went back to where they were.

"Blood." Locke said.

"What…what's going on?" Charlie asked fearfully.

Locke smiled. "Claire had her baby."

"That's why they injected her. To keep her quiet. Otherwise, she would've been screaming for about 10 minutes during labor." Jack said.

"Do you think she's alright?" Charlie asked.

"I don't know. We need to first answer the question as to why they kidnapped her in the first place."

"I think I might know." Charlie said.

"What?"

"Claire was telling me how she went to this man before she got on her plane. He told her that great danger surrounded her baby. And he knew that the plane was going to crash."

"So that's the danger?" Michael asked.

"Maybe, but that still doesn't tell us why Ethan kidnapped her." Jack said.

"He's just a sick, twisted freak, that's why." Michael said.

"That's part of it, but there's a reason behind it." Locke said.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, Locke removed a knife and launched it behind him. Ethan stood there with a gun, and the knife flew right into his shoulder as blood poured out. He screamed out loud as he fell to the jungle floor in pain.

"Bloody!…It's Ethan!" Charlie said.

He ran over to him and grabbed him by the neck.

"I'm going to make your stay on this island a living hell, you know that?"

Charlie yanked the knife from his shoulder. The blood sputtered out. He cried out some more.

"Charlie! Stop!" Jack rushed over.

He and Michael took Charlie by his arms and dragged him off of Ethan. He fought as hard as he could to get away from their grasp, just to give Ethan a taste of his own medicine. Locke took the gun from Ethan and pointed it at him.

"Let me go! I'm gonna beat out every fiber of him!"

The propped him against a rock.

"Charlie! Stop! You're going to hurt yourself this way."

"I'm going to murder him! Let me go! I'll kill that ass!"

"Charlie!"

"Let me go, Jack! I'll kill him!"

"We need to get some information from him!"

"Then I'm gonna cut his bloody throat, just enough to make him suffer!"

"Charlie! Listen to yourself, man! Calm down!" Michael said.

They held him down firmly. After he struggled to get away for a few more moments, he finally calmed down.

"We need to talk to him, then we'll take care of him. Got it?" Jack said.

He stood up. Michael stayed with Charlie to keep him from jumping up. Jack grabbed him by the neck and propped him up on his knees. Locke tied his hands behind his back. He handed the gun to Jack. He aimed it at him.

"Alright, asshole, you're gonna tell us everything you know. Otherwise, we have ways of making you talk. Now…how did you get here?"

"I'm not telling you anything!"

"Wishing I brought Sayid now?" Jack asked Locke.

"Maybe."

"Let me take care of him, Jack!" Charlie said.

"Charlie, no. Ethan, you'd better start talking."

"We should take him back to camp and let Sayid take care of him." Michael said.

"That's just what he wants us to do, ain't that right?" Jack said.

"Want me to go get Sayid?" Michael asked.

"No. We can handle him. Look here, Ethan. It's only gonna hurt you if you don't talk."

"What's the point?" he asked. "You're gonna kill me anyways."

"Bloody right about that!" Charlie said.

"Why did you do it, Ethan? Why? How'd you get here? You weren't on the manifest. Let's start with that. How did you get here?"

After a short pause, he sighed.

"Our plane crashed, too."

"16 years ago?"

"We weren't on the same plane as the French woman. That story aroused millions."

"How long after that plane crash did yours crash?"

"About 9 years."

"You've been on this island for 7 years?"

"Yeah, I have."

"Wait…that story aroused millions?"

"Yeah…don't you remember? 'French tourist plane crashes 1000 miles off course. Search parties give up hope. Tell the families the French people are as good as dead.'"

"No, I don't. What kind of plane were you on?"

"A mob plane. We were headed to Sydney when our plane crashed here on this island."

"This was 7 years ago?"

"Yeah."

"What do you want with Claire?"

He didn't answer. Suddenly, he elbowed Locke in the face, knocking him backwards. He quickly found a way to untie his hands.

"Hey! Don't move!" Jack said, still aiming the gun at him. He began to cock it back.

Ethan grabbed the gun, aimed it at his head and pulled the trigger. He fell to the ground. The bullet shot echoed through the jungle. Charlie tried hard to escape.

"Bloody…asshole! I'll…I'll kill you!"

He sighed and gave up.

"Charlie! Charlie! Stop it!" Jack said.

Locke took the gun from Ethan's limp hand. What were the chances of finding Claire now?

* * *

"Did you hear that?" Kate asked.

Sawyer and Boone stopped. They all looked around.

"Gunshot." Boone said.

"From who, though?" Kate asked.

"Look, Wonder-girl and Tarzan, let's just get back to this door." Sawyer said impatiently.

"It's right there."

They approached a metal door on the ground. It was almost all the way uncovered. Kate took of her backpack and began to brush off the dirt and debris. Boone joined in.

"Alright, I'll keep watch out here." Sawyer said.

"Maybe you could help us, Sawyer."

"Or maybe not."

"We don't want to have to do this just as much as you don't but at least we're willing to, so if you're not…just go back to the beach." Kate said.

Sawyer grinned. "Well, when you put it that way, Freckles."

He bent down and started to help them. After a few minutes, they uncovered a handle. They all stood up. Kate bent over and began to yank on the handle. She couldn't get it. After a few more tugs, the door creaked open. Dust came from each crack so thick that Kate had to let go to cover her mouth. She coughed. Boone and Sawyer stepped back. After regaining herself, she continued to open it all the way. Down in the cellar, it was completely dark.

"Give me a flashlight." She said.

Boone handed her one. She played the light into the cellar. It was only about 8 feet down. She sat on the edge and then dropped down into it.

"Are you okay, Kate?" Boone asked.

"I'm fine. Come on down here."

Boone went down and then Sawyer did. Kate shined the light on a spider web covered cabinet. She opened it. It creaked and let out dust the same way the door did. In the cabinet were some medical supplies obviously about 10 years old, but still in good condition. There were three metal pots and two pans. Kate removed them and set them on the table.

"We taking those?" Boone asked.

"No use letting them rot in here."

She shined the light around some more. There were some old, dusty clothes, but still in good condition. A few knives rested in the rotting suitcase. Another cabinet was along the wall. It had a lock on it. Since it was rusty, she used one of the knives to open it. It came off easily. Kate tugged at the door. It opened quickly and out tumbled two dead bodies. She jumped back as they fell down to the floor. She panted from fear as she stepped around them.

"Look what we have here." Boone said.

"Locked in a cabinet. Don't tell mom the babysitter's dead." Sawyer said with his usual smirk.

"Yeah, but…who locked them in there?" Kate asked.

"And why?" Boone said.

She shined the light onto the small table. On it was something white, covered in dust. She picked it up and brushed it off. It was an old newspaper. She held it up as she read it.

"Oh, my gosh. Look at this."

Boone and Sawyer gathered around her.

"It's dated April 25, 1997. That was 7 years ago."

"Wait…the French chic's plane crashed 16 years ago…so…who brought this?" Sawyer said.

Kate stared at it for a moment.

"Ethan. Sayid said that she said there were others. They were on Ethan's plane. His plane crashed 9 years after the French woman's plane did."

"So 3 different planes crashed on this island?" Boone said.

"Listen to this…March 17, 1988. A plane chartered from France with about 100 French tourists flew in the direction of Australia. The trip was only supposed to be about a week long, but what was supposed to be a vacation turned into a fight for survival…the plane never returned to France. Search parties on planes were sent out to find the missing plane, but returned with no luck…the plane had crashed 1000 miles off course. Rescuers gave up all hope in finding the plane. They told the families that they would never be able to find the missing plane…as of today, detectives have determined that the plane crash was North of Australia. Rescuers have been sent out. What turned out to be just no hope for survival may return to be still a flicker of hope for crashed survivors."

It was quiet for a moment as they reflected over what they just read in the article.

"The pilot said that we didn't crash north of Australia…it was South East. They're looking in the completely wrong direction for us." Kate said.

As she folded up the newspaper, another piece dropped to the floor. It was a different article. She picked it up.

"April 27, 1997...what was thought to be a chance of hope for the French survivors turned out to be just a false thought. No survivors were found in any islands North of Australia. Everyone has now turned thoughts to the families of the lost tourists…to put it plainly…there's no hope for your loved ones' return."

She stood still for a moment. It was completely quiet.

"There's no hope for us getting out of here now." Sawyer whispered. "We'll be here till our dying day."

He stepped away for solitude. Kate knew he was right. It just hurt so bad to think that what he said was actually true. They had never even found the French tourists after 16 years, and never found Ethan after 7 years, so what gave them hope that they would be found? The only thing they could do was survive the best that they could on the island as if it were the way they came into the world.

"Are we gonna show this to the others?" Boone asked quietly.

Kate rolled it up and put it in her backpack.

"They'll have to learn the truth somehow." she said.

Suddenly, up above, there were some noises being heard. Bushes were rustling and they could hear footsteps above. Suddenly, the door overhead slammed shut.

"No!" Kate screamed.

She ran over to the spot and pounded her fists on the door.

"There's no point, Kate. We're trapped in here." Boone said.

As much as she tried to hide it, she was still scared. How were they going to get out of this place?

* * *

uh-oh. cliffhanger...what will happen to sawyer, boone, and kate? what will jack do about finding claire? next chapter coming shortly!!! 


	5. Trapped

**CHAPTER FIVE: Trapped**

Charlie rested against the wall. Ethan was dead. He was the only way that they were going to find Claire…and he was dead. Michael came up to him.

"Hey…don't worry, man…we'll find her."

"Are you sure about that?"

"Don't give up. We'll find her. Now come on. Let's get going."

After a moment he stood up. Jack stood with his hands on his hips, screening the island, thinking. Charlie approached him.

"What are we going to do, Jack?"

He didn't answer right away. He was in deep thought. Then, he started walking forward on the path they had already been following. Charlie chased after him, and then Michael and Locke followed. Soon, Jack started running. He stopped, looked both ways, and then ran to the left. Charlie, Locke, and Michael all followed. Charlie knew that Jack was onto something. He was afraid to ask, though.

Suddenly, up ahead, Charlie saw a distinct figure of a person. Her hands were tied together in the air to a branch. She was sitting on her legs, leaned against a tree. A black bag covered her head. Charlie stopped following as the other three approached the limp figure. He knew it was Claire, but he was too afraid to see her face-to-face.

* * *

Kate leaned against the wall and closed her eyes for time to think. How would they get out of there? Of course Jack would get worried and go looking for them, but what if they didn't come back? Was Jack okay? Was Claire okay? Were they going to get out?

"Don't worry about it, Freckles. Gives us a break from all the chaos back in town." Sawyer said.

"How can you live with yourself?" Kate said, disgusted.

"There's got to be something in here that will help us get out of here." Boone said.

"Maybe, like, the exit, Einstein?" Sawyer said.

"Who do you think closed the door on us?"

"Maybe it was Santa Clause? The hell if I know!"

"Guys, look what I found."

They went over to Boone. He was holding a wrench in his left hand. Kate took it from him and went back over to the door. She banged it on the bolts until they became loose and then pushed as hard as she could but with no luck of opening it.

"There's something on top of it. We're not getting it open."

"So are we just gonna wait here for 16 years?" Boone said.

"Jack will come."

"Oh, sure. Good old Dr. Hero always comes to save the day."

"Hey, if it weren't for him, you'd be dead. He saved your life."

"Did I ask him to?"

"Did you have to?"

"Isn't that the thing you love about good old Jackass? Perfect lil angel? Does everything right? But you know, Kate, there's something I got that he ain't got. And that's the thing we share in common."

He walked away from her. Kate was astonished. That was the first time on the island he had actually called her by her real name. Not the corny Freckles crap he usually used, but Kate. Maybe he really did feel something for her. And it scared her. It scared her that the only man on the island she really didn't trust was possibly the one she could trust the most. But enough thinking of that. They needed to escape. Kate dropped the wrench on the ground. She thought for a moment. Then, wide-eyed, she rushed over to the cabinet that the dead bodies came out of. She started moving it out of the way. Boone, noticing she was onto something, helped her move it. Behind the cabinet was some thin bark stacked in rows. From the humidity in the summers, it caused it to form into one big piece.

Kate started to pry it away. Once the piece was torn off, she tapped on the area. A hollow sound was heard. She picked the wrench up again and began banging it on the wooden part. Soon enough, a hole began forming in the wall. She tossed the wrench aside and began pulling the pieces off. In moments, an opening was made big enough for them to crawl through. Boone was smiling.

"Good job, Kate. Now let's get out of here."

"You first."

Boone went ahead and crawled in. She stared into Sawyer's eyes.

"Ladies first." he said.

After a short pause, she went ahead through the opening. Then he followed. Boone stopped up ahead.

"What do you see, Boone?"

"It looks like another door."  
"Try opening it."

He did. He pushed as hard as he could, and, within moments, it opened. He crawled out through the opening. Kate and Sawyer followed. They were out in the fresh air once again. Kate went over to their original exit. A large rock had been put on top of it. Sawyer and Boone looked out into the jungle.

"Looks like there was nothing worth going in there for except that magazine." Boone said.

Suddenly, Kate felt a knife at her neck. She was pulled to stand up straight.

"Kate!" Boone said.

He took a step towards her . Sawyer stopped him. The attacker had a mask over his head.

"Take another step and I'll cut her throat!" the man said.

"Who are you?" Boone asked.

"I'll ask the questions around here! How did you get here? How did you find this door?"

"We came across it when we were going through the jungle." Boone said.

Suddenly, Sawyer removed a gun and shot the attacker in the shoulder. He cried out and fell to the ground, but not without cutting Kate's throat. She cried out and clutched her throat, staggering around. Sawyer kept the gun aimed at him and protectively pushed Kate behind him with Boone. The man laid on the ground in pain. Sawyer grabbed the man by the throat and yanked the mask off of him.

"Alright, you asshole. Now it's my turn to ask the questions. What are you doing here?"

"It wasn't my idea to take her! I swear!"

"Take who?"

"The pregnant lady! It was Ethan's idea! I only played along with it! It was all, th-the whole thing was his idea!"

"What was his idea?"

"To take her!"  
"Why did he want her?"

"To get her baby!"

"Why?"

"I don't know! He wouldn't tell me why! I swear!"

"You'd better not be lying to me, boy."

"I'm not! I swear!"

"And what are you doing over here?"

"Ethan told me to trap you in there."

"Why?"

"I don't know!"

After a moment, he looked back at Kate. Suddenly, the man attempted to grab the gun from Sawyer's hand. They wrestled around for it, and then a gunshot was heard. It startled Kate and Boone. The man collapsed to the ground. Sawyer stood, staring down at the man. After a quiet moment, he turned around to Kate and approached her. He held the gun out to her.

"I did what I came to do, Freckles. Now I'm done."

She stared at him for a moment and then took the gun. He walked off, headed for the beach. She looked down at the gun.

"Let's get back to the caves." she said quietly.


	6. Claire

**CHAPTER SIX: Claire**

"Charlie! Give us a hand!" Jack said as he began to untie the body.

Charlie stood still for a moment. Then, he rushed over to them to help out. He touched the bag on the person's head, closed his eyes, and the removed the bag. It was Claire, for sure. And she didn't have the baby. How could Locke have been wrong? Her face was scratched up and she had dark circles under her eyes. Her hands were completely untied. She fell to the ground, still unconscious.

"I-Is she gonna be alright? Is she okay?" Charlie asked shakily.

Jack put his head to her chest. After a moment, he lifted his head.

"Is she…"

"She's alive. Let's get her out of here."

Jack and Locke put her arms around their necks and began to escort her towards the caves. Charlie stood, stunned. He was, of course, terribly glad that she was alive. It was a miracle, especially on the island. After a moment, he continued to follow them back to the caves.

* * *

Charlie sat around the campfire. The sun was setting, but it was still a bit light outside. Claire was in the "medical tent" being taken care of by Jack. It was amazing that she was alive. Hurley sat down next to Charlie. 

"She's lucky to be alive, man."

"I know. It's…amazing."

"She'll come to in a couple hours. Don't worry."

"Yeah…I know."

Kate was standing out side the caves where she could see the ocean. She thought over the day's events. Sawyer put himself in a situation to save her life where he could've lost his. That wasn't the Sawyer she knew. He pushed her behind him to make sure she was safe. He even called her Kate instead of Freckles. Perhaps he really did love her. Would Jack have done the same thing for her? She wondered. She could tell he wanted to voice his feelings for her, but he wouldn't allow himself to. He'd rather remain a hardened, stubborn person. Jack came up to her.

"Hey."

"Hey. How's Claire?"

"She's…she's alive. That's all that matters."

"Right."

"How did it go with the door?"

"We…we found something. I think it's important that you see it."  
"What is it?"

Kate removed the newspaper and handed it to him.

"Read it."

He looked at her, then unfolded the newspaper. He read it to himself. After a moment of silence, he looked back at her.

"There's no chance of us getting off this island…is there?" Kate said.

"No."

"I think…it…we need to show this to the others."

"We can't, Kate. It'll only get them worked up."

"We can't hide it from them forever, Jack. They need to know that the rescue boats aren't coming."

"It'll only scare them even more. That's the last thing we need."

"Somebody has to break it to them."

"Yeah, you're right, but…not right now. Not with Claire like this. Once she's settled down…then we'll tell them."

He headed back to the caves. Kate was unsure that he would follow through, but trust was the only thing that was going to get them through on this island. Which was exactly why she needed to go talk to Sawyer.

* * *

I know this was a very short chapter, so please dont get mad. but keep reading coz im still putting chapters up! please review! ty :) 


	7. Jealousy

**CHAPTER SEVEN: Jealousy**

Kate found Sawyer leaning against a tree, staring into the ocean, smoking a cigarette. He actually decided to stay the night in the caves. She came up to him, standing behind him. Her arms were folded across her chest. It was quiet for a moment.

"Why did you do it?"

He took the cigarette from his mouth.

"Wondered when we'd talk again, Freckles."

"Why did you do it, Sawyer?"

"Do what?"

"You protected me. Why?"

"Why?"

"Yeah, why?"

He didn't answer her. Instead, he raised the cigarette to his mouth for another smoke. He inhaled it, then blew it out.

"Wanted to see what it felt like to be the Hero. Jackass has had the title long enough. Felt it was my turn."

"That's not why you did it. You had another reason and I want to know why."

"You wanna know why…"

She was quiet. He flicked the cigarette into the sand.

"Yes…why you risked your life for mine, why you pushed me behind you to protect me…and…you called me Kate."

"Well, that's your name, isn't it, sweetheart?"

"So why did you do it?"

"Why did I do it…"

He looked up.

"I told you the answer yesterday, Freckles…you and I are meant for each other. We're the only two on the island who can trust each other, and you know it."

It was quiet for a moment.

"It's funny how the person you feel like you can trust the least is actually the person you can trust the most."

"…Are you hinting at me?"

"I am."

He turned to face her.

"I know you think I just look at you for your beauty. Hell, it's true, you're gorgeous…but it seems we share something in common. We both had our complex pasts. That's something Jack can never share with either of us."

He took slow steps towards her.

"You know that we both feel something for each other…maybe you don't know what it is yet…but you'll figure it out soon enough."

"And you have?"

"I know all about you, Kate. About how you were the prisoner. But I didn't tell anyone. Jack and I are the only ones who know."

"How?"

"I have my ways."

He grinned down at her.

"And it seems you enjoyed that kiss about as much as I did."

She stared up at him.

"Maybe we ought to try it again…just to see if there's any sparks this time."

Still grinning at her, he moved closer to her. She strangely found herself not moving away from him. Their lips touched and the first kiss was relived…without the blood and sweat. She found that she was actually…enjoying this kiss. He pulled her a bit closer to him. After a moment, she realized what she was doing and pulled away. She rubbed her lips together. He looked down at her. Then, she looked to the side. Jack was standing there, awe-struck.

"Jack." she whispered.

He shook his head and started walking off.

"Jack! Wait!"

She chased after him.

"Jack…"

She faced him. He turned the other way. It was all she could do to get him to look at her.

"Jack! Stop! Jack…"

He continued back to the cave.

"Jack! Listen…I didn't…"

"What, Kate? What's your excuse?"

"Jack!"

"He make you do it? Is that it?"

"Jack, no…"

"I have nothing to say, Kate."

"So why does it matter to you?"

"What?"

"It's not like you ever gave any hints that you felt something for me! So why are you so pissed?"

He laughed and looked away.

"Why?"

"Can't you see it, Kate?"

"See what?"

"That I…"

"You what?"

He wiped his mouth. Then, he walked over to Sawyer. Sawyer looked over at him.

"Something wrong, Doc?"

Jack socked him.

"Jack!" Kate screamed.

She ran up to him. He pulled Sawyer up. Sawyer fought back. They got physical.

"Jack! Stop!"

She tried to stop them, but they were too into it.

"Hey!" Sayid and Charlie stood up and came over.

They rushed up to them. Sayid pulled Jack off and Charlie pulled Sawyer off.

Sawyer struggled to get away and jump Jack just once more. Kate stared at Jack, stunned that he actually did something like that.

"What's going on here?" Sayid said.

"Why don't you ask Doctor Johnny Bravo! He started the whole thing!"

"I find that hard to believe, Sawyer."

"Okay, Ali! Why don't you ask him what his damn problem is and then you can get to the bottom of the situation!"

"What happened here, Kate?"

"I'll tell you what happened! He jumped me just because he can't charm the little lady like I can!"

"I'll beat your ass right now!" Jack screamed.

"Come on, then!" Sawyer cried.

Sawyer fought free and jumped Jack again. They were at each other's throats. Sayid grabbed Jack again. Boone helped out this time. Charlie and Locke took care of Sawyer.

"Sit still, Sawyer!" Charlie said.

"Jack, this is different coming from you." Sayid said.

"Let me go!"

He got free of their grasp and stormed off to the beach. Kate watched him as he left.

"Kate…what happened?" Sayid asked.

"I told you what happened!" Sawyer said.

"Shut up, Sawyer!"

Kate sighed, covered her head and ran off to the beach.

"Kate!" Sayid called after her.

Suddenly, a scream was heard. Claire! Charlie looked over to her tent. He left Sawyer and rushed in. Claire was awake.

"Claire!"

He rushed to her side and tried to calm her.

"It's me, Claire! It's Charlie! Calm down!"

She still screamed. He grabbed a water bottle and opened it.

"Here, here, here. Take a drink."

She shakily took the bottle from him and took a drink.

"You're fine with me, Claire."

She dropped the bottle.

"Ch-Charlie?" she said.

"Yeah, Claire. It's me. You're safe with me. Ethan's dead. You're okay."

"H-He's dead?"

"Yes. We're back at the caves, now."

He held her close, safely. Hurley ran into the tent.

"Claire! You're awake? Are you -"

"Hurley, where's Jack?" Charlie asked.

"He left to the beach."

"We need him! Right now! Go get him! I'll stay with her!"

Hurley rushed out of the tent. Sawyer was sitting against the rock, staring into the fire. All the others were around the fire. Sayid stood up.

"What's going on, Hurley?"

"Claire woke up. Charlie told me to go get Jack."

"Yes. Go get Jack. We'll be here to take care of her."

It was quiet in the tent. Hurley rushed out to the beach to get Jack.

* * *

ooh, jacks jealous! will claire be ok? keep on readin! lovin ur reviews! tank you guys! :)


	8. Jack Talks

**CHAPTER EIGHT: Jack talks**

Kate ran as far as she could until she was too tired to run anymore. Then, she stopped, and stared out into the ocean. She plopped down in the sand, head in hands. Everything was going wrong. It was so hard to follow her heart when she didn't know where it was leading her. Sawyer did love her…at least a little bit. And Jack was crazy about her, but he was too scared to tell her. That was why he got so mad about it. This island wasn't only physical torture, but it was mental and emotional as well.

She could hear someone walk up and stand behind her. She didn't care. She didn't want to know who it was. It was probably Sawyer anyways. She didn't want to talk to him. She didn't want to talk to anyone.

"Hey, Kate."

Jack. What was he doing there? He came up to her and sat down next to her.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"I…I really wanted to…apologize. That was way out of line…what I did."

"…Why did you do it?"

He didn't answer her right away.

"I…I think I was just…jealous."

"Of Sawyer?"

"Yeah."

"Why?"

"I…"

He stopped talking. Kate knew why he did it. She wanted to hear it from him, though.

"I don't think he deserves you Kate…"

"Why not?"  
"And…neither do you…you don't want someone like him…you want someone who…who cares about you, and will take care of you…someone who wants you for who you are, and not for how you are…Sawyer wouldn't treat you right…"

Kate stood up, a bit angry.

"Jack…unless you have something to say to me…you have no right to tell me what I want."  
He stood up. "Kate, I…"

"Jack, I just…"

She turned away from him and took two steps, folding her arms across her chest.

"I want to know…"

She faced him again.

"How do you feel about me?"

It was quiet.

"I…I like you, Kate…"

"Like?"

"And I don't know how you feel about Sawyer…but I just need to tell you…I could be…I'm a lot more of a better guy than him."

She stared at him. She knew everything that he had just said was true.

"And I don't know how you feel about me…but you need to decide who you're gonna choose."

He started to walk away.

"Jack…"

He ignored her. Suddenly, Hurley ran up to Jack.

"Jack! Claire woke up screaming! Charlie and Sayid went in the tent to see if she was okay. They told me to come get you."

Jack ran past Hurley, headed for the caves. Kate went up to Hurley.

"Everything alright with you two?"

"Yeah, Hurley. It's fine. What's going on?"

"Claire woke up. She was screaming. She seemed fine. Just scared and traumatized."

"We should get back, then."

"Right…get back."

They started walking back.

"So…what happened between Sawyer and Jack?"

She sighed. "Just…jealousy."

"Oh…"

She could tell he caught what she was saying. In a few minutes they were back at the camp. Kate headed into the tent. Sawyer was no longer there. _Must've gone back to the beach, _she thought. Jack was in the tent, and so was Charlie. Claire was sitting up. Kate stood back, arms folded across her chest.

"Anything hurting? No broken bones or anything?" Jack asked.

"No. I'm fine, I think. Just cuts and bruises."  
"Did they do anything to you?"

"Slapped me around a bit…injected me twice…but that's it."

"Why did they inject you?"

"The first time was to put me to sleep. Knocked me out for about 12 hours. The second one was to keep me quiet during my contractions."

"Another false labor?"

"Yeah."

"We found a needle in the jungle. We figured it was the second one."

"Yeah…they were dragging me around and then I started having some contractions. Other than that, I'm fine."

It was quiet as Jack put rubbing alcohol on her cuts.

"You think you're up to answering some questions?"

"Um…sure."

"Do you remember anywhere that they took you?"

"No…I was out most of the time."

"Did anything look familiar to you?"

"Just Ethan."

"No place that you went to?"

"No."

"Well…apparently, they tied you up to a tree. That's where we found you. You were still under the drugs, obviously. They obviously only wanted your baby for something. But I don't know why they would've left you out in the open."

"They left me there to die."

"…Right."

He wrapped a deep cut on her arm with a white bandage wrap.

"Don't worry Claire. You're safe here."

She sat still, quiet. Kate could see the fear and the sadness in her face. If only there was something she could do. Since there wasn't anything she could do, she left the tent and sat down next to Sayid around the fire.

"How's it going in there?" Sayid asked.

"I think she's fine. She's just worried about the baby."

"At least she's okay."

"Yeah."

* * *

kinda retarded ending, but next chapters gonna be good! keep reviewin please! thanks! 


	9. A Signal

**CHAPTER NINE: A signal**

Claire was sleeping soundly in the tent. Charlie stayed awake all night, sitting right next to her. It was early in the morning, maybe about 7:00. _You All Everybody…_Charlie thought. It was all he could do to keep himself awake. Jack came into the tent.

"Jack…what are you doing awake?"

"Checking on you guys…did she sleep okay?"

"Didn't make a sound."

"That's good."

He set a pan with two cooked fish in it.

"Say hello to your breakfast."

"Hello."

"You need to get some sleep Charlie."

"Not until Claire wakes up."

Jack smiled.

"You're a good guy, Charlie. But I don't think anyone would dare to take her in broad daylight."

"I'll still wait."

"If you want…I could take over."

"No, no. You're busy. I'm fine."

"Okay, but if you change your mind…"

"Alright. Thanks, Jack."

He left the tent. Kate stood around the fire.

"Kate…you're awake?"

"Yeah…I couldn't sleep."

Jack piled a few more logs onto the fire.

"How's Claire?"

"Sleeping."

"That's good. And Charlie?"

"Being her guardian."

"He's pretty loyal."

"Yeah."

Suddenly, out of the tent came Sayid with the transceiver in his hand.

"Jack, I think we might have enough battery to listen to the message again."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. We need to get a group together."

"I need to stay here."

"I'll go with you." Kate said.

"Why do we need to hear it again?"

"Not only will we be able to hear it again, we might be able to send out a signal."

"Why would this time be any different than before?" Kate asked.

"It won't, but since there is more flow, then we might be able to try something different."

"Then I'm definitely going. I want to hear this for myself."

Kate grabbed her backpack and began putting it on.

"We should get going immediately." Sayid said.

"Do we have to go as high as we did last time?"  
"No. This time we just need to get to the open valley."

"That's good."

Sawyer walked up around the fire.

"Going somewhere?"

"Nowhere that interests you, Sawyer." Sayid said as he put his backpack on.

"Maybe it does."

He sighed. "We have enough battery for the transceiver this time. We may be able to send out a distress call this time."

"You guys going out again?" Boone said as he came out from the tent.

"Yes." said Sayid. "We're going out through the valley."

"I want to come with you."

Kate glanced over at Sayid. She could tell that he didn't want to have to have a large group that he had to keep track of, and she didn't either, but anyone had the right to come.

"Alright. Let's go."

Sayid began to walk off. Kate and Boone followed. Sayid glanced back at Sawyer.

"Thanks for the invite, everyone." Sawyer said.

He began to follow them. The group headed out through the jungle into the valley.

Back in the tent, Claire awoke.

"Charlie…what are you doing in here?"

"I'm watching after you, Claire."

She smiled. "You're sweet…but you should get some sleep yourself. I'll be fine."

"You don't know that."

"No, it's okay. I'm getting up anyway."

She sat up.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. I'm all rested up now."

Charlie stood up, too. They walked out to meet Jack around the campfire. Walt, Michael, and Hurley were awake, sitting around it also.

"Hey, Claire." Jack said.

He went to her aid and helped her sit down, handing her some water.

"How are you feeling?"

"Fine, thanks. Where is everyone?"

"Sayid, Boone, Kate, and Sawyer went into the valley to see if they could get a signal on the transceiver. They should be back in a couple hours."

Jack looked over at Charlie and laughed. Claire looked at him and laughed too. He was sitting up, his eyes closed.

"Hey, Charlie…the rescue boats are here…"

Charlie jolted awake.

"What? What was that? Where?"

Jack and Claire laughed.

"Go get some sleep, man." Jack said.

He did so. Claire watched him as he headed off into the cave, then she glanced back at Jack, still smiling.

"How's everything been going?"

"It's good. We've just spent lots of time trying to find you."

He sat down to fry a fish in a pan.

"You're lucky to be alive Claire. And so is Charlie. And to still have the baby with you."  
"I haven't…felt the baby move for a day or so."

"They didn't try to hurt him, did they?"

"No. Not that I know of."

Jack only hoped.

The group of four continued to hike up into the valley. The journey was a long, dangerous one, but they were willing to take it. Of course, Sawyer was the first to complain.

"Alright…we're in the valley. Check for a signal."

"We need to get a bit higher." Sayid said, continuing his walk.

"Oh, here we go again. Just turn it on, Omar."

"There's not enough power to turn it on."

"Just check the damn machine!" he screamed.

"If I check, we might not be able to get it to work!" he shouted back.

"If you don't check, I'll -"

"Hey!" Kate shouted.

They both stopped arguing.

"We're leaving it off until we get higher. We don't need all the arguing right now."

"Try telling Curly-Q over here that."

"You go to hell, you damn redneck."

"Go back to your damn tanks and go blow up another country!"

They engaged in a physical fight. She attempted to grab Sayid, who had Sawyer pinned underneath him on his back. Boone pulled Sawyer out from under him.

"Break it up!" Boone shouted.

Sawyer attempted to pull away, but Boone had a good grip on him.

"I'm gonna finish your ass off right now!" Sawyer shouted as he struggled to escape.

"Go ahead and do that!" Sayid shouted.

Suddenly, farther out in the jungle, a loud noise was heard. They all stopped fighting and looked back, silent. The trees began moving.

"Guys…what was that?" Boone asked.

Kate loosened her grip as they listened for the noises.

"Let's go!" Sayid shouted as he started running, pushing Kate along.

Boone and Sawyer followed behind. Along the way, Boone tripped. Sayid looked back and ran to help him. He reached out his hand and pulled him up. They ran forward more.

"In the tree!" Sayid shouted.

Sawyer climbed into the tree. Kate pushed Boone up. Sayid went, and then Kate. Boone and Sawyer held tightly to the branch. Sayid was up before Kate.

"You think the tree was a safe idea?" Boone said.

"Better than running three miles back to the caves." Sayid said.

As Kate tried to pull herself up into the tree, her foot slipped. She screamed and tried to keep herself held up.

"Kate!" Sayid cried.

He reached out to pull her up, as well as Sawyer did. She glanced back. The monster was coming closer. She stared out, too scared to try to get up. Suddenly, she was wide-eyed. She struggled to pull herself up. In a few moments, she was up. She leaned back on Sawyer's chest as he held her arm to keep her up. Panting from fear and loss of strength, she closed her eyes. It was quiet for a moment. Then, Kate spoke.

"I saw it."

They all looked over at her.

"You saw it?" Boone said.

She nodded. He slowly looked out.

"What did it look like?"

Kate slowly opened her eyes.

"I…I only caught a glimpse of it…" she swallowed. "It…"

The monster was heard out in the jungle again. They all jerked their heads in its direction. It made its loud cry again. Suddenly, the tree began to shake, as did the rest of the ground. They all grabbed hold of something, and Kate noticed Sawyer grab her arm tighter. They were all silent for a moment. Nothing happened.

"Is it gone?" Kate asked.

"It sounds like it. It might be safe to go down now." Sayid said.  
"You mean…we're still going out there?" Boone asked, a bit fearful.

"We're not doing laps, Mr. Track Star. We didn't hike three miles to turn back." Sawyer said.

Kate sat up and then slowly stood, balancing on the branch.

"What are you doing?" Boone asked.

She didn't answer, but climbed up to the next level of branches. Up top, she looked out to see if the monster was still there.

"Do you see anything?" Sayid called up.

"I think it's gone."

She began to come back down.

"Are you sure you didn't see anything?"

"Didn't hear either."

"Then I will go down first-"

"Sayid…"  
"It's fine, Kate. There's no one I trust to go down and come back more than myself. I'll be fine."

With a worried look on her face, she argued no more. Sayid slowly made his way back down. Kate clung to the branch and watched nervously from up above. He stood still, as if expecting the monster. Then, he took a few steps out in the open. He removed the transceiver from his backpack and turned it on. It was quiet for a moment. Then, Sayid smiled.

"We've got a bar again!"

He put it up to his ear. Then he slowly frowned.

"Wait…" he said to himself. "It's something different…"

Suddenly, the monster was heard again. Kate swallowed.

"Come on, come on…" Sayid said. He adjusted the frequency. A different signal was picked up!

"It's a different signal!" He called back.

He put it back to his ear to listen. This voice was a computer's in English.

"Location: 95 degrees Southeast of Australia. Unable to locate source of distress call. Blockade preventing communications…" it repeated. Sayid made a confused look.

"Sayid! Hurry!" Kate called.

The monster was getting closer. Sayid attempted to hear it again.

"Come on, Sayid!" she called again.

The tall grass up ahead began to rustle. Sayid took a step backwards. Too scared to wait any longer, Kate began to go down.

"Freckles, stop!" Sawyer shouted.

He grabbed her and kept her from going down any farther. He and Boone pulled her back up. Sayid began running back to the tree. He climbed up as fast as he could. Kate and Boone helped him up. He leaned back and panted. Sayid closed his eyes and breathed in, then opened his eyes.

"What…was so important…that you had…to have a cup of tea while you were down there?" Sawyer asked.

"There was a different signal."

"What?" Kate asked.

"It was a computer voice. It…" he closed his eyes, then opened them. "It said…'location: 95 degrees southeast of Australia. Unable to locate source of distress call. Blockade preventing communications.'"

Kate thought for a moment.

"Is that where we are?" Boone asked.

Sayid nodded. "They know where we are. They can not communicate with us or come to get us because there is something that is keeping them from coming."

"Like what? The Bermuda Triangle?" Sawyer said with sarcasm.

"Something similar. That is what it means by blockade."

"Do you think that's why the plane crashed?" Kate asked.

"There could've been any number of reasons why the plane crashed…that, or, low fuel supply, the pilot not operating right…anything."

"Can we hear it up here?" Kate asked.

"Let me check."

He adjusted the frequency once more. The message played again. They all listened carefully. It was quiet once the message ended.

"So we still can't send out a call?" Boone asked.

"No. All we really need is for the French message to be found, which already happened."

"Should we head back to the caves now?" Kate asked.

"Maybe we should stay here the night. Go back early next morning." Boone suggested.  
"No. We don't want to worry the others. Especially after what happened with Claire. We need to get back." Sayid said.

"So what do you say we do about the dinosaur out there?" Sawyer said.

"We go as quietly as possible."

Sawyer grinned evilly.

"You don't know how much I wanna push you out of this tree, and how easy it would be for me."

"Well unless you -"

"That's enough!" Kate said. "We're going back to the caves. Right now. Let's go."

Kate was the first one out of the tree. Boone and Sawyer followed, then Sayid. Sayid led the way back to the caves. They rarely talked on the way back. It was getting dark. And the rain began to fall. They were all cold, but none complained. The monster was heard again in the jungle behind them. They all stopped and quietly listened.

"This thing just doesn't quit." Sawyer said.

"Shh…" Sayid said.

They listened for another second. The trees that were off one-hundred feet began to move.

"Run!" Sayid shouted.

They all did so. They ran non-stop for 5 minutes. Then, Kate stopped and ran into the trees. She waited for the others to come. Sawyer came first. He hid in the trees with her. Kate swallowed with fear as she waited for the other two. Kate grew impatient and stepped out of the trees. She took a few silent steps forward. Out of nowhere, Boone ran into her.

"Boone! Where's Sayid?"

"I don't know! He was right behind me and then he was gone!"

Kate glanced out that way. Boone stayed with her, and then went in the trees with Sawyer. She stood her ground.

"Kate, come back here!" Boone called.

She ignored him. Where was Sayid? Was he okay? She tried to reassure herself by saying that he would show up in a minute or so, but a minute passed and nothing happened. Kate returned to the trees with them.

"We should get going , Kate." Boone said.

"No. We can't leave him."

"He would want us to keep going."

"But we can't just leave him out there with that thing roaming around."

"He'll find a way back."

"Not only that, he has the transceiver."

"We need to -"

The monster was heard again.

"Let's get going! Come on!" Boone said.

Sawyer and Boone began to run back to the caves. Kate stayed behind. Boone ran back and pulled her along.

"Let's go, Kate!"

After a moment, she followed along. They kept going for five minutes and then stopped.

"We're lost, aren't we?" Boone said.

Kate looked around. She didn't want to admit to them that she was lost, but she had no idea where she was going. Not only that, she was still worried about Sayid. She hoped he was still alive…

"Do you hear that?" Boone asked.

Kate tried to shake her mind free of Sayid. She listened.

"It sounds like a river…or something."

"In the middle of Gilligan's Island?" Sawyer said.

Kate followed the sound. It was, indeed, a river. They filled up their empty water bottles with the water.

"I wonder where this leads to." Kate asked.

She followed it in the direction she thought the caves were in. Sure enough, they could hear people up ahead. The river lead right to the caves. Jack came up to them.

"It's about time you guys got here. We were -"

"Jack, Sayid is gone."

"What?"  
"We were running in the jungle…the monster. Didn't you hear it?"

"The monster…we heard it about three times. That's what we were worried about. Did it…"

"We were running away from it and Sayid was right behind us…then he wasn't."

Jack looked away for time to think.

"He can take care of himself, Kate. He knows what he's doing."

"And not only that, he had the transceiver with him."

"Did you pick up a signal?"

Kate looked over at the others. They were all listening. She didn't want to tell them yet. She pulled Jack aside.

She looked down and swallowed. Then she looked back up at him, gazing into his eyes. He could see her fear. She spoke quietly.

"We picked up a signal…a different one."

"What did it say?"

"It said…they know where we are…but they can't get to us or transmit communications because of some type of …thing that's blocking it. Sayid said it's similar to the Bermuda Triangle, or…that's what he's guessing."

Jack looked away.

"What are we going to do, Jack?" she asked.

"I don't know, Kate. All we can do is wait and keep on waiting. Either they'll find us or they won't."

He walked away. Kate watched him as he left. She could tell Jack was scared as well. His way of dealing with it was to not deal with it at all. A nice walk down to the beach might clear her mind. Maybe in her time of being gone, Sayid would stumble back into camp, not a scratch on his body.

* * *

whew, that was a long chapter! please keep reading. next chapter comin tomorrow. thanx for the reviews guys. hope you like the story so far! :) 


	10. A Pleasant Conversation

**CHAPTER TEN: A Pleasant Conversation**

Sawyer was back on the beach, sitting on the wing of the plane. So much had happened that day. Nearly five sightings of the monster in the jungle. He didn't believe it was really a monster at first, but now he certainly did. And Sayid was giving him more problems than he thought possible. Kate would hardly speak to him, although he knew she wanted to, but was afraid of what the others might think.

Yesterday night…with Kate. He kissed her again, only this time, it wasn't because he demanded it. She didn't even pull away that time. It seemed to him that she actually enjoyed it. And then he couldn't deny it to himself…maybe he did love Kate. Maybe at first he thought he just liked her for her beauty and body, but now, getting to know her helped him to realize that maybe he did really love her. But breaking through to her wasn't going to be easy, especially when Dr. Charmer wanted her as much as Sawyer did.

But now it was easy to see. He was constantly worried for her. She was always on his mind. How he just wanted to get her alone again, just to talk about their feelings for each other, but she wasn't exactly a very emotional person.

And that moment in the tree…first, she slipped. He was afraid she would fall, so he helped pull her up. Then, he held her in his arms. Her body was propped against his chest. She was so warm. Her skin was smooth and soft. He held onto her. He could sense her fear when she leaned against him. He wanted to hold onto her forever, but he couldn't. He wasn't even about to allow her to go down to the ground with Sayid when that thing was so close. He did care for her.

That moment, Kate walked up slowly, arms folded over her chest. She apparently didn't realize he was there, because she said nothing. She gazed out into the ocean. Her face said that she was waiting for someone. And he knew she was. She was such a caring person. Sayid's sudden disappearance was startling to her, and it was a bit creepy to him, too. He could tell she was sad, depressed, angry, any emotion that you feel when someone you care about disappears. He wanted to talk to her, to show her that he wasn't just the ass-redneck in the back that took all the stuff. He had feelings, too.

"Waiting for someone, Freckles?"

She was startled. She glanced back at him.

"I…I didn't know you were here."

"It's alright. Not like it's bothering me, having you here."

She continued to stare out into the ocean. Then, she took slow steps towards Sawyer.

"That message is kind of…"

"Strange? Yeah. Figured as much."

"I wonder who picked it up."  
"Could've been anybody."

She glanced back out to the sea. Then back at Sawyer.

"I don't understand how he could've just…disappeared. He was right behind me, and then he was gone."

"Don't beat yourself up for it, Freckles. He knows what he's doing. I'm sure he found himself a nice little house, made some pizza and is watching a movie. Planning on coming back in the morning. Hell, I don't blame him, going out alone on a night like this…dangerous. Especially with King Kong out there waiting for his next victim."

"So you do believe there's a monster?"

"Do now. First I thought it was some trick-or-treaters, playing pranks, but I don't think their sound effects are that good."

She looked away as she laughed a bit. Her laugh made him smile.

"I think that's the first time we've been here that I've seen you smile."

Still smiling, she looked up at him.

"I think that's the first time I've had something to smile about."

Sawyer looked out into the ocean, still grinning.

"Well…I'm gonna…head back to the caves. I'll see you later."

She started to walk off.

"Yeah. See you later."

He watched her leave. That was probably the only conversation on the island that he had with anyone that the other person wasn't getting pissed off at him for something. She actually laughed because of something he said. And it felt good. He got up and headed back to his airplane chair.

* * *

kinda dumb chapter, but i was stuck, and now i not! next chapter comin tomorrow as usual. thanx guys! oh, and special thanx to Evermore, bein a supporter from start to...well, im not near finished, but thanx for reading my story all along. and thanx to everyon else! keep reading! :) 


	11. Rescue

**CHAPTER ELEVEN:** **Rescue**

Kate returned back to the caves. Jack was no where in sight. She went up to Charlie.

"Where's Jack?"

"I don't know. He was here a minute ago."

She could hear Jin shouting in the background. She went over to where Sun and Jin were. Jack was over there with them.

"Look, I just need to know where you found it." Jack said.

Jin screamed at him in Korean. He made wild hand gestures at Jack. In Jin's hand was the transceiver.

"Where did he find that?"  
"I don't know. He won't even let me touch it."

He yelled some more Korean and then pulled Sun along with him. Michael walked up.

"What's going on, Jack?"  
"Jin has the transceiver, but he won't give it to us."

"Wait, that means that Sayid was somewhere nearby." Kate said.  
"We'll never know unless Jin gives it to us."

Jack walked off, back to the campfire.

"Maybe I can help." Michael said.

"What, do you speak Korean and haven't told us?" Kate said, a bit annoyed.

"No…but just let me see if I can help."

He walked off. When Sun was alone, he called her over. She made sure Jin wasn't watching and went over to Michael.

"Where did he find the transceiver?" Michael asked.

"Actually," she said. "He didn't. I did. I was about to take it to the doctor and he saw me with it and took it from me."

"Do you think you could get it from him and give it to us?"  
"I will do what I can."  
"Well, thank you."

With a smile, Michael left.

Kate grabbed her sweater and put it on. Jack noticed.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm going to find Sayid."

"Kate, no -"

"If they found the transceiver this close to the caves, then Sayid's around here somewhere."  
"I don't think it's a good idea. Not at night, especially when the monster is so close."

"All the more of a reason for me to go find him."  
"Kate, Sayid can take care of himself. He knows what he's doing."

"I don't care. Even the strongest people need help…so I'm going out there."  
"If you're not going to listen to me, then…I'm coming with you."

That was a bit different to her.

"Don't you have to stay and watch after Claire?"  
"Charlie's here for her. I don't want you to go alone."

"Well, if we're going, we'd better move fast."

Jack grabbed his backpack. He went over to Charlie.

"Charlie, Kate and I are going out to find Sayid. Could you and Hurley keep things down while we're gone?"

"You're going out…this late at night…with that thing so close by?"  
"Yeah. Just keep everyone calm. And watch after Claire."  
"Of course."

In minutes, Jack and Kate were off. Treading through the jungle at night, not knowing what was going to happen did scare Kate a bit. But she wasn't about to admit that to Jack. He would just say "I told you so" and they'd go back to the caves. Suddenly, she remembered something. A pair of binoculars she had found might come in handy.

"Jack, I found these. Maybe we should get into a tree and look for Sayid from up there."

"Alright. Let's get moving."

They went into a tree that was right near the valley. They found a comfortable position up top and Jack looked for Sayid.

"These aren't just binoculars, Kate…they're night-vision binoculars. These are helping out a lot."

Kate smiled to herself. It was good that Jack wasn't still angry with her over what he had seen between her and Sawyer.

"I see him!" Jack said.

"Where? Let me see!"

He handed them to her. In seconds she saw him, too. He was laying in the grass face-down, seemingly unconscious. She shoved the binoculars back to Jack and quickly made her way down the tree.

"Kate!" he cried.

He followed after her, trying to stop her. She ran all the way to Sayid. He was, indeed, out cold. She knelt down at his side.

"Sayid, can you -"

The monster made its threatening cry. Jack rushed up to Kate.

"Kate! Don't take off like that again!"

"Come on, we have to get Sayid back to the caves quickly."

They both slung an arm around their necks and ran as fast as they could. The monster cried out again.

"We need to hurry!" Jack said.

He pulled them along faster. They stumbled into camp.

"That was fast!" Hurley said.

They laid Sayid down on the ground near the fire. Jack went to the tent and got a wet rag with warm water. He dabbed it on Sayid's head. In moments, Sayid awoke.

"Jack! Where are we? What happened?"

"Why don't you tell us that."

Boone showed up and saw Sayid as he sat up and sat on a rock.

"Sayid! You're back! Where were you?"  
"I don't remember."

"We found Sayid face-down in the grass in the valley." Kate said.

"Where's the transceiver?" he asked.

Michael ran up. "I got it!"  
"How'd you get it?" Jack asked.

"Sun gave it to me." H handed the transceiver to Jack.

Jack tried to turn it on but nothing happened. He handed it to Sayid. Sayid tried also but with the same luck.

"I'll have to take some time to fix it. Then we can try again."  
"Sayid, no. Not after what happened. You could've died." Kate said.

"We all could've died, but we didn't. And I'm fine. Don't worry Kate. You don't have to come along. I'd rather go alone."

"No one is going anywhere alone." Jack said. He looked over at Sayid. "All you can do for now is try to fix the transceiver, then we will see what else we can do from there."

Sayid stood up.

"Right now all we can do is get some sleep. We'll pick up where we left off tomorrow morning." Jack said.  
"I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks so." Hurley said, yawning.

He sat down around the fire and was asleep in moments. Sayid went off into the cave. Jack turned to Kate.

"Well, I'll see you in the morning." Jack said.

Kate smiled. "Thanks for coming with me, Jack."

He smiled, then turned away, heading for his medical tent to check on Claire. She was sound asleep, and so was Charlie in an airplane chair. Jack quietly exited and headed for his own bed in the cave.


	12. Midnight Disruptions

**CHAPTER TWELVE: Midnight Disruptions**

It was near midnight. Sawyer was sleeping nicely. Suddenly, his unexpected alarm clock - a woman screaming - woke him up. At first, he thought he was dreaming, but then he knew it was real. He slowly came back to reality. The screams were coming from the caves. They sounded very close. What was happening? Was Kate okay? Did someone get kidnapped again? He slowly stood up and listened. Another scream. He began rushing to the caves.

Back at the caves, Claire was screaming. Charlie was at her side, holding her hand. Jack rushed into the tent, and so did Kate.

"What's going on?" Jack asked.

"I think she's having the baby!" Charlie said. "Do you know how to deliver?"  
"Yeah. I do."

He went to Claire's side.

"Claire, it's me, Jack. You're gonna be fine. Charlie and I are right here with you. Just try to stay calm and breathe. The best way to keep calm is to count. 1,2,3..."

Claire closed her eyes and began counting. Jack began to help her. Kate knew they needed privacy, so she left the tent. Everyone else was awake and was curious. Kate stood near the fire, arms folded across her chest, nervously waiting. Sawyer stumbled into the camp.

"What's going on? I heard someone screaming."

"Yeah, what's happening?" Hurley said.

Kate announced it to all who were curious. "You guys, Claire is having her baby. She's gonna be fine, but we all need to stay calm."  
"She's having the baby?" Boone asked.

"Yeah. Jack's in there right now, and so is Charlie."

"How long do you think…" Shannon said, not finishing her sentence.

"It might take about 10 minutes. You can try to get back to sleep, but don't count on it."

Everyone knew what she said was true. Too anxious to go back to sleep, some went off, away from the screaming, and others centered themselves around the fire. Kate stood near the fire, but close enough to the tent if she was needed. Sawyer approached her.

"What brought you here?" she asked, a bit surprised that he was there for something other than water.

"I heard someone screaming…thought I might come check it out."

"You? Coming to see if someone else was okay?"

"You say it like it's never happened before." He said, a bit defensive.

"Because it hasn't."

Sawyer looked away, a bit guilty, knowing that it was true.

After about 10 minutes, as Kate said, Jack came out of the tent, wiping his sweaty forehead. He went up to Kate.

"Is she okay?" Kate asked.

"She's fine. She's tired, but…she's fine."

"Is the baby okay?"

"He's fine, too. He's wrapped up in a towel to keep warm."

"And Charlie?"

"A bit…scared." Jack said, smiling.

Kate laughed and looked out into the fire. Now that the baby had been safely delivered, everyone began to head back to bed. Kate stayed, still staring into the fire. Maybe she'd go get some sleep, wake up refreshed and ready to continue slaving away.

* * *

another short chapter, sorry. i dont know if ill be able to put up a new chapter every day next week coz i gotta go back to school on monday, but ill try hard. not easy juggling school, sports, homework, new semester, yada yada, AND a story, so give me some time! hope you liked it, since i got 2 chapters in today, and maybe chapter 13 coming tomorrow. please keep readin and reviewin! thanx :) 


	13. A Good Old Game of Football

**CHAPTER THIRTEEN: A Good old Game of Football**

Kate was up early again, as usual, beginning to fuel the fire. It seemed later than it had been lately, which was okay, because a lot of other people were already awake.

"Good morning, Kate. How are we today?" Charlie said, apparently in a good mood.

She grinned. "I'm fine. Why are you so happy?"

"Well...why shouldn't I be? Claire's okay, she had the baby...everything's wonderful!"

Smiling, he walked away. Kate grinned, rolled her eyes, and shook her head. Suddenly, Hurley came running into the camp with something in his hands behind his back.

"Dude, where's Jack?" He asked.

"I haven't seen him yet. Sorry."

Jack came out from the medical tent, brushing his hands together. Hurley quickly approached him.

"Hey, Dude! You'll never guess what I found!"

"What?"

"I can't tell you. I gotta surprise everyone with it."

Hurley stood up on a rock.

"Hey, everyone! Pay attention! I got something to say!"

Most of the people stopped to listen.

"You'll never guess what I found! Now it's something that'll keep us less worked up about being on this island. And I'm pretty sure we'll all enjoy it..."

He removed his hands from behind his back. In his hands was a dirty football. He was smiling. Charlie came up.

"Yes! Yes, this is wonderful!" He said. "Let's go play some football!"

He jumped off the rock and Hurley followed. They ran out through the jungle, heading for the valley. Kate shook her head, smiling.

"Those two have the weirdest ideas."

"Maybe..." Jack said. "But I always did enjoy a good old game of football."

He put down the logs he had in his arms and began following their paths. Several of the other people did so, too. Claire came out of the tent, the baby wrapped in her arms. She was smiling.

"So I heard the speech." She said.

"Looks like everyone went out to go play."

"Well, no one said the girls couldn't go. So go!"

"I don't wanna play...but I suppose watching never hurt anyone." Kate said.

Dropping what she was doing, she went out through the path. Claire followed close behind. When they were in the valley, everyone was getting ready to play.

"So who all's playing?" Hurley asked. "If you're playing, come over here. The chics can play, too."

Charlie, Michael, Walt, Jack, Boone, and Sayid came over. Hurley counted all that were playing, including himself.

"What? Seven? That's it? We only need one more to make the teams even! Anyone?"

Kate looked around.

"Count me in." Sawyer said, strolling up, hands in his pockets.

"Alright! That's it! Four on each team. Team A is the Skins. Team B is shirts."

He approached the groups of players. "Sawyer, Jack, Boone, and Charlie are all Team A."

They removed their shirts and tossed them aside.

"All the rest of us are Team B. Now...does anyone have a quarter?"

"I got one." Jack said. He pulled one out of his pocket. "Kate! Come here!"

Kate slowly made her way up, grinning.

"You think you could do the coin toss for us?"

Still grinning, she took it from him.

"Call it, Sawyer." Jack said.

"Heads."

She tossed it in the air. She bent down to look at it.

"Heads it is." She said. She collected the coin and returned it to Jack.

"Do you know how to coach a football game?"

"Are you kidding? I grew up where the only thing on TV was football." Kate said.

"Good. So you'll be the referee?"

"No problem."

"How's about you, Locke?" Jack called out. "Can you coach a game?"

"Not a problem."

"What are we gonna do, guys? Kick or Recieve?" Jack asked.

"Let's kick." Charlie said.

"Who?"

"I'll do it. I played football in high school." Boone volunteered.

Sawyer took the ball and held it on the ground. Boone took a couple steps backwards. Kate made her way out to the sidelines with Locke. After a moment, Boone took running steps forward and kicked as hard as he could. It flew through the air. On the other team, Sayid caught it and began running. They all collided. Charlie took Sayid down first, then the rest of the teams piled on each other. In a few moments, they were standing up straight again. They quickly huddled.

"Alright. What are we gonna do?" Michael asked.

"I say," Hurley began. "We fake a handoff, then pass it to the left. I'll fake the handoff to Sayid, then, I'll pass it to Walt who'll be on the other side on the left. Michael will go on the right."

"Sounds good." Walt said.

They quickly made their formation.

"Set...hike!" Hurley said. They went through with the plan, although Walt missed the ball and dropped it. They quickly rehuddled.

"Now what?" Sayid asked.

"I'm a fast runner. I may not be a good receiver, but I can go fast." Walt said.

"Let's actually do a handoff and he'll get off on the right side, heading for the endzone." Michael said.

"That'll work."

They took formation. In seconds, they were back in play. Boone almost tackled Walt but missed him by inches. He ran into the "endzone".

"Time for a field goal!" Kate called out.

"Who's gonna kick?" Walt asked.

"I will." Sayid said.

Michael held the ball for Sayid. Stepping back, he kicked it through the goal post. The "crowd" cheered.

"Time for another kickoff!" Locke called.

They went back to their sides. Michael did the kickoff and Jack caught it. They continued to run down the field. He did every kind of twist and turn imaginable, and didn't get caught, running all the way to the endzone.

"Good job, Jack." Charlie said. "Are we doing a kick, run, or pass?"

"Let's fake a kick and do a pass." Sawyer said. "I'll fake the kick and pass it to the kid over here -"

"Boone?"

"And then he'll run to the endzone."

"Sounds good to me." Jack said.

They took formation. They did exactly as they were planning and scored some points. The game continued for two hours, everyone relaxed and having fun. When the game was over, it was near lunch time. Team A returned their shirts to their backs. Jack looked around at everyone's smiling faces. They were definited relaxed. All the stress was put off for later. Even Claire was relaxed, the baby in her arms, talking to everyone.

"Hey, Jack!" Kate called.

He turned around only to see a football flying into his face. He quickly reacted by catching it, grinning.

"Nice throw." He said. "Good spiral."

He tossed it back. She caught it.

"You ever play football?"

"Did in high school. Not on a team, though. Just for fun. I played with my family when they'd come over for football season."

"You seem to know a lot about it. Better reciever or quarterback?"

"Quarterback. Definitely."

"I'm a reciever."

Kate smiled.

"Hey!"

They both turned around to see Charlie standing nearby.

"How's about we play a little passback?"

Kate tossed it to him. They had fun tossing the ball back and forth while chatting.

"This was fun." Charlie said. "A nice day off does the trick."

Sawyer stood by a tree by himself. Sure, hanging with the other guys playing a good game of tackle football was fun, but people still seemed to only see that he was an asshole redneck. Then he looked over at Kate. She was smiling, maybe even laughing, playing passback with Charlie and Jackass. How he just wanted to wring out his neck...but he controlled himself. Why did Hurley put them on the same team? If he had been shirts, Jack would be in a coma by now from being tackled to the ground so hard, but being a skin was good, too, because Kate _must've_ been looking at him more than Jack, being that he had a nice six-pack and thick biceps. Then he saw how happy she was hanging out with Jack. Why couldn't it be him? He would've gone over and asked to play passback with them, but that wouldn't go over too easily. So maybe he would just go back to the beach. All that being nice was in vain.

"Hey, Sawyer!" Kate called.

He hesitated to look over. What would the good old Doctor Hero think of Kate calling him over to play with them? But maybe he should give it a chance.

"Yeah?" He said.

"Wanna play some ball?"

After a moment, he headed over to the group of three, soon a group of four. Jack passed the ball to him. He threw it over to Kate, who passed it to Charlie. How could he possibly talk to Kate alone when those other two were hanging around? Maybe he'd just have to wait until later. After all, they still had the rest of the day to kill. He smiled a little bit. So far, the day had been good. No one was pissing him off, and he didn't piss anyone else off, and then, Kate asked him to play a little passback with her...and two others, but still...she considered him! She actually thought twice about him, and it was a good thought! Maybe later he'd chat with Kate. Right now, he would just spend having fun.

"Nothing beats a good old game of football!" Charlie said.

* * *

i thought id give the lost gang somethin fun ta do. next chapter is gonna be up in a few minutes. im overdue coz my puter was acting up, so hang on... 


	14. Love Or Lust

**CHAPTER FOURTEEN: Love or Lust**

_Dammit, Sawyer! Pull yourself together!_ he said to himself. He was falling apart. And it was all Kate's fault. If she hadn't have gone and done something that would've gotten her on the plane to Australia in the first place that crashed on the island, then Sawyer never would've never even met her, and he would still be the same old jerk he was before. Part of him wanted to change...for her. But the other part wanted to remain the same. Why did she have to come into his life? His usual method of meeting girls was to meet a beautiful one with a husband, charm her, get her in bed, then steal the husband's money, and his conscience never caught up with him once. He had done that so many times before, and it worked. So...why did he want it to be so different? Why did he want to change so badly just for her? The beautiful, caring, sweet, mysterious Kate? He never thought he would feel true love, so the hell if he knew that what he was feeling for her was love or lust. How badly he wished that someone would just come up to him, tell him which one it was, and then leave. He never had a worry or care about breaking other women's hearts before, but he just couldn't do that! Not to Kate!

He pounded his fists on the splintery tree. The slivers dug into his fists, causing them to bleed, but he didn't care. He didn't even move his hands. All he could think about were the emotions running wild in his head. After what happened to him when he was a boy, with his parents, he had found a way to rid himself of any emotions he could ever have. Life was easier without emotions, any kinds, except for hatred. If you hated something, you would never feel affection for it, so you would never get heartbroken, or feel pain. That was why he didn't want to change: he had the ultimate pain given to him when his parents died when he was a kid. He didn't want to feel anymore pain _anything_ like that ever again. That was why he wanted to remain so hardened inside. Not once in his mind during the past 17 years after his parents died did the word "love" cross his mind. At least not until he met Kate.

So maybe that meant he did love her. New emotions, new feelings! Ones he hadn't felt since he was 8 years old! He felt happy around her. He felt like he wanted to change around her. He felt like he actually wanted to hold her in his arms, not just because he was holding a beautiful woman, but because he would be holding the only woman he ever really loved. Why couldn't he just tell her everything he felt about her? Why did love have to be so hard?

And yet, another emotion surged through him. He felt like crying. _No!_ He yelled at himself. He hadn't cried for 17 years. Not for anything. But this was different. He couldn't tell her how he felt. He wasn't strong enough, and he was afraid to tell her everything on his mind. He knew he couldn't have her, and that was why he wanted to cry.

So many emotions and feelings raced through him at that moment, and any moment he was around her or was thinking about her. Happiness, yet anger. Joy, yet depression. And love, yet...lust? How come he didn't know if he felt love or lust? He had never felt this way about any woman before, so was that defined as love? He hadn't said "I Love You" since he was 8 years old. All these thoughts anchored his mind.

And then he realized that he had to make a decision. He could go on being the same jerk he had been almost his whole life and completely forget about Kate...about her, and about any feelings he felt for her. Or, he could just tell her how he felt, everything he had just been thinking, and hope that she would understand. He needed help! He couldn't decide such a heavy decision on his own! He needed advice. From who, though? Not Jackass, not Sayid...Charlie? It was obvious he felt something for Claire, so maybe Charlie could help him figure out what to do...or Claire! It might be low, running to a woman to talk about a woman, but he needed to decide something quickly.

So he was going to find Claire. He quickly made his way to where Claire usually was. She wasn't there. _Figured,_ he thought. After having the baby, she was probably definitely going to stay at the caves. But what could he do? "Hey, Claire. I need to talk to you about Kate." Right! Like he would say it right out in the open. He would have to pull her aside, or get her alone.

Then, he made his way to the caves. Everyone was relaxed around the fire or near the caves, chatting, acting normal. The football game had definitely loosened them up. Which was good. Claire was sitting on the wooden "bench" which was actually just half of a 4-foot tree trunk. No one was talking to her. She was rocking the baby in her arms. He breathed in deeply. This was it. He slowly approached her.

"Hey..." he said.

"Hi." She returned.

"Look, there's something I need to talk about, and...well, I figured you're the best one to talk to about it, so...would you mind going somewhere away from here? It's...important."

He could see a nervous flash in her eyes. Oh, no. He hoped he didn't make her think he loved her. He just needed to talk to her! But she still slowly stood up. They began walking out to the beach.

"So...what did you want to talk about?" she asked.

"Well...I..." he sighed. "You've been in love before, right?"

She smiled a smile as if she thought he was going insane. "Uh, yeah."

"Well...how do you...how do you know if it's love or lust?"

"Well..." she said slowly. "I don't know. You just...know. You can feel it."

"What's it feel like?"

"You feel...well, you're always happy and...you feel different than normally. You don't just feel happy, you feel glad."

"What does it feel like when you see them walking by?"

"Well...you feel...flushy."

"Flushy?"

"Yeah. You feel nervous, but excited. And you feel like you're floating. You just want to wrap your arms around them and hold on for the rest of your life. If it's lust, then all you see is their outer beauty. You don't see their personality, you just see their face and their body."

It was quiet for a moment as they tramped through the jungle.

"I don't know why you, of all people, is asking me this. I mean, you definitely shouldn't have ever had a problem with women."

"It was all lust before. But this time, it..." he didn't finish his sentence.

"Just out of curiosity, if you don't mind my asking...who do you...who is it?"

He slowly grinned.

"Is it...is it Kate?"

"Damn. Ever been on a gameshow?"

She laughed. "No. I can just tell. So...if you want...tell me how you feel about her."

They were at the beach now. They sat down together on the warm sand. The sun was shining down.

"Well..." he began. "When I was a boy, about 8, something...happened. To my parents, and I thought that if I got rid of any feelings or emotions that I felt for anyone, then I wouldn't have to even worry about heartbreak or pain. So for 17 damn years I haven't shed a single tear or felt anything towards anyone besides hate. But when I met her, I just...first I knew it was just lust, cause she is damn hot. But as I grew on to know her, I just...I felt something for her. I could slowly feel emotions coming back that I hadn't felt since I was 8. I actually felt...happy around her. And I felt relieved when I saw her, knowing she was safe. And knowing that I, of anyone else she'll ever meet, will never get to have her, just...it makes me feel...well, you get what I'm saying. I haven't told anyone 'I love you' for 17 damn years. And then...I knew I needed to decide. If I was going to tell her how I felt, or if I was going to continue living my life without any feeling for anyone, cause it felt so much safer that way. So I needed to talk to someone, and you...well, you seemed like a good listener, so...I chose you."

Claire had listened to every word he said.

"So you want my opinion on what to do?"

"Yes."

"Well, Sawyer...I can't tell you what to do, but...if all that what you just said was true, then...you should tell her. No matter how much you feel that she thinks of you as a jerk, I'm sure it'll catch her attention somehow."

"Yeah, but..." he stood up. She did too. "How am I supposed to win her over Doctor Hero?"

"You don't have to win. You just...well, if what you said was true, then you don't even have to act around her. She'll see you for who you are and if the real Sawyer is eye-catching to her, then...maybe she'll feel it back."

They began walking back to the caves.

"So...how do you think she feels about Jack?"

"Well...it looks to me like they both feel something for each other, but Jack seems...scared. He seems scared to voice his feelings. Which means you need to talk to her before he gets to her."

"You actually think she'll listen to me?"

"If you're honest and sincere."

They were back at the caves.

"Well...thanks for helping me with this." he said.

She smiled. "Anytime. And, just so you don't have to ask me to, I won't tell anyone what you said."

He grinned as she walked away to the others. Claire was so nice. She actually gave him a chance to talk with her, not jumping to conclusions that he was going to hurt her or anything bad. She trusted him! And she listened to him. She gave him some pretty good advice. So...he decided that he was going to tell her. But not right then. He was going to wait for her to come to him on the beach. Hopefully it would be soon.

* * *

claire is so understanding. well, thats it. chapt 13 and 14. ill try to post chapt 15 asap but that might not happen for a while coz skewl starts in 2 days again. Grrr! Anywayz, thanx for readin so far. Ill update asap! :) 


	15. The Beach

Reference to Song: Evanescence - My Immortal...I DON'T OWN IT!!!

**CHAPTER FIFTEEN: The Beach**

Kate smiled as she looked around and saw everyone smiling as well. The football game was a good idea. Everyone had loosened up. She finished putting some logs on the fire and then went up to Hurley.

"That was a good idea, Hurley." She said. "Everyone seems...less tense."  
"Just trying to make the stay here more enjoyable."

"Well, the football game was a good idea. Where'd you find the ball?"

"On the shore of the beach."  
She looked surprised. "You went out to the beach by yourself?"

"Yeah. Aren't you proud?"

She laughed and patted him on the back. She saw Jack coming from the caves. She approached him.

"Hey!" she called.  
"Hey. What's going on?"

"Nothing. That was fun today, don't you think?"

"Anything that will keep everyone settled down."  
"Yeah. I guess so."

"Oh, hey, we found this."

He removed a small brown, leather book and handed it to her. She looked at it with a strange look. She didn't know what it was, but she opened it and looked through it. Then, Jack saw in her eyes, she seemed to break down inside.

"What...what is it?"

She didn't answer it. She turned the page. Then she quickly closed it shut.

"It's nothing." She said quickly. She started walking away, towards the beach. "Look, I'll be back. I need to do something."

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine!"

She turned around. Really she wasn't. That was the saddest thing she had ever seen. Yet it enraged her! The small book was a journal. She had written in it since she was little. Everything in it was so depressing. She thought she had burned it! She didn't want to remember anything like what she had just read!

She was back out on the beach. She stood on the shore. She looked around to make sure no one was near. She was all alone. Opening the journal to a certain page, she began to read it to herself.

"Mom says that she has to go away today and leave me with Dad. I don't know why! She said she is really sick and needs to get fixed. But she seems fine to me! She still has an angel's smile."

She turned to the next page.

"It's been 4 months since Mom went to the doctor. She died just three days ago. I haven't written in this journal in forever. Today I was in my dad's office with my dad. He was sitting at his desk. I was standing near the window, looking out at the rain. He asked me, 'What do you like about the rain, Kate?' and I told him 'It covers up your tears.' Then I cried. I didn't want him to see this, because then he would laugh at me and call me weak."

She turned another page. A tear dripped from her eye, down her cheek and onto the paper, rippling it.

"It's been 7 years since I wrote in this journal. I'm now 14. I can't believe what Mom did! She left me with Dad, the most heartless person of all of them. The cold, heartless, bastard! I hate him! He makes fun of me. He is always drunk or out gambling. I'll come home from school and won't even see him until the next morning, and that's if he's passed out on the couch from a hangover. I can't stand him! So that's why I decided that I'm going to runaway. I can't stay here any longer. He's killing me. Well, now he won't hurt me any longer. I'm going to escape forever. I'm taking clothes, some food, and all the money I can find in this house. I'm sure he has about $80 in his wallet, and I have $55 in mine. There's also about $26 in the money jar, so I think I'm going to buy a plane ticket to a far away place where he'll never find me. It might take a while to get all the money, but it's safer than being here with him. Somehow I'll make it."

She thought she had burned this! Why was it still there? She made sure it was gone. If anyone ever found it, they would definitely keep her in prison forever. She turned another page.

"Dad found out that I escaped. He sent the police on me and they brought me back to him. Then he beat me. He hit me on the head and then he threw the phone at me really hard. It hit me in the head and made me bleed, but I wasn't about ready to cry. I am a lot stronger than that. Then, he took out the knife from the drawer and charged at me with it. I knew he was completely drunk! He was going crazy! I had nothing else to do but reach in his desk drawer and remove the pistol. I aimed at him and shot him. He fell down on his stomach, about 2 feet away from me. Was he dead? I hoped he was, and he was. I had to get out of there. I still had the same escape method. So I am going to get out of this country for good."

_I'm so tired of being here_

_Suppressed by all my childish fears_

She sat still on the beach for a moment, not moving, barely breathing. She tried to get rid of this. She wanted to never recall this again. That was the most terrifying thing that had ever happened to her. She had ran all over the country for 11 years. Then, the US Marshall caught her and brought her to Australia. That is, until the plane crashed. All she was doing was surviving! And they wanted her arrest for just that. She was going to burn this book tonight. She didn't ever want to see it again. It was nothing but pain to her. She stood up and slowly walked towards the shore. She couldn't let anyone else see this book, because then they would know what she had done and they would know her haunting past.

Her tears had dried now. All she wanted to do was be alone, but that wasn't going to happen, because Sawyer approached her.

"Hey, Freckles."

She looked over at him, but said nothing.

"Something wrong?" he asked. Her heart skipped a beat, because when he asked, he meant it. She could hear the sincerity in his voice. But she wasn't about to let him see her sad.

"Why would anything be wrong?" she asked.

"You just seem...down."

"I'm just thinking."

He nodded and it was quiet for a moment.

"So, Freckles...I was thinking...about when you asked me the other day..."  
"Asked what?"  
"Asked...if I wanted to be hated."

"Okay. What about it?"

"Well...I've been thinking about it and...the truth is, that I _did_. But...now I don't."  
"What?"

He slowly started walking along the shore. Kate followed alongside him.

"Back when I was a kid...after what happened...I thought it would be safer to get rid of any emotions I felt, except for hating people. Then I wouldn't have to worry about feelings. That's why I was such an asshole."

"But...'now you don't?'"

"No, I don't...not until...I met you."

She stopped walking. He turned to face her.

"Sawyer, coming from you, that's hard to believe."

"Why?"  
"Any girl you've ever met, you just played her and stole her money. I don't want to be a trophy on your wall of bimbos."

"You won't be!"

"And how come I'm any different than any of your other girls?"

"Because...I just...when I'm around you...I actually feel...something."

"Like what?"  
"That feeling...where I just want to hold you in my arms and never let you go."

Kate rolled her eyes. "You don't feel that way about anyone or anything except for money and cigarettes."

She started walking. He stayed right next to her.

"Kate, I'm pouring myself out to you! I'm telling you how I feel! Doesn't that mean anything to you?"

Kate stopped and stared into his eyes. She could see the honesty in his eyes. Then she glanced down at the journal. She cringed to keep her eyes from flooding. She looked back at him. Maybe he was telling the truth.

"Look, Sawyer...I just...I don't want to get hurt anymore."

With one last look into his eyes, she turned away and quickly walked away from him. As she turned away, she could feel her eyes overflowing with water. She had to get away from Sawyer. She quickly made her way out to a small cliff smothered in grass that overlooked the ocean. She sat down on it, sunk her head in her hands, and cried.

_And if you have to leave_

_I wish that you would just leave_

_Cause your presence still lingers here_

_And it won't leave me alone_

* * *

so how do you like so far? ive written 20 chapters so far and i just keep puttin dem in, i was stuck on chapter 21 for about a week! and then i got a good idea. ill try to post this week, okay? just be patient wit me! thanx for readin and keep reviewing!


	16. Revealing the Truth

NHRALUVER: OMG!!! I am so sorry it took me forever to write. I kinda got grounded, so yeah, long story. but im so sorry. now im back on and im writin lots more. i have no idea when this story will end, i just keep gettin more ideas. so keep readin! and thanx for all the reviews guys. you so nice...anywayz, keep readin and reviewin! hope this chapter clears a lot up. and i saw the new episodes. lovely lovely! awesome! okay, sorry...keep reading!

**CHAPTER SIXTEEN: Revealing the truth**

What had he done? He was honest and sincere, just like Claire said he should be, and she still didn't believe him. It had something to do with that little book in her hand. What was in it? He would never know. All he could do was give her time. "I don't want to be hurt anymore..." it replayed in his head over and over again. Was it a man of her past that had hurt her? Was it her dad? Her mom? Uncle, aunt, brother, sister, cousin? Or a childhood playmate? What did they do to her? If he ever found out and came to look them in the eye, they would pay...

He wanted to go chase after her and comfort her. He wanted to hold her in his arms, and let her cry into his shoulder. He would hold onto her tightly, and repeatedly tell her "It's okay" and "I'm here". He wanted it so badly that he felt on the verge of tears. She needed to be alone, then maybe she would come around and talk with him. He was heartbroken with Kate, angry with whoever had hurt her, and sad that she ran away from him. Wih three heavy emotions on his shoulders, he turned and headed back to his tent as the rain began to pour from the sky.

* * *

"Where'd you go to, Claire?" Charlie asked.

She wrapped the baby in the towel as she went into the cave to shelter him from the rain. "I was talking with someone."  
"About what?"

"It's a secret."

He laughed. "So, I never did ask you what you named him."

She smiled. "Anthony."

"Anthony?" he asked, smiling. "Hello, little Anthony. It's Uncle Charlie."

Claire smiled. "I think he likes you."

He smiled as she turned to go into the caves. He stood still, thinking. Then, he quickly rushed around everyone to grab his guitar. As he was covering it, he thought of something that he could do. He smiled slowly. Hurley busted out laughing.

"What was that cheesy little grin for?" he asked.

"Oh, nothing. I just got a good idea."

He headed off in the direction of the beach.

"Hey, where you going?" Hurley asked.

He didn't answer. Hurley shrugged as he ran off.

* * *

_Oh, great._ Kate thought. As if the moment could get any worse, the rain began to fall. "What do you like about the rain, Kate?" was what she was thinking. It did cover up her tears, but she couldn't cry any more. All the tears were gone. And then she began to think about Sawyer. What he had said was a completely different turn. He went from being the redneck jerk to a sweet, actual human being. Maybe what he was saying was true. Maybe it just didn't feel true because it was completely new to her from what she had seen in him. But what about Jack? He didn't seem like he was making any efforts to tell her that he loved her. Sawyer had done it several times. And she actually felt like she partly believed him. And it scared her, but she also enjoyed it.

So then she knew that she needed to go talk to Sawyer. No matter how hard it was going to be. She couldn't keep putting it off. She would go back to the caves to see how things were going, and then she would go talk to him. She slowly stood up and brushed off her pants. She made her way down the cliff and began to walk along the beach. In the distance, she saw a figure in the tree. It was Charlie. Why was he out there? Maybe she should go check on him. So she did.

"Charlie...what are you doing out here?"

"Oh, hey, Kate. Not much. I'm...just playing my guitar. What are you doing out here?"  
"I was just out. Why aren't you practicing at the caves?"  
"I just wanted to be here."  
"Whatever. Well, I'll see you later."

She walked away. As she was leaving, he noticed a small brown book on the ground he grabbed it.

"Hey, you forgot this!"

But she didn't hear him. He would just give it to her later. He opened it and read it. His eyes grew wide. He quickly stood up and ran back to the caves.

* * *

Kate arrived at the caves about 10 minutes later. Jack was in the tent patching up a scratch Walt had on his arm. Kate came inside.

"Hey, Jack." She said.

He didn't answer her. "Alright Walt, you're good."

He hopped off the table and left. Jack was rummaging through his supplies.

"I saw Charlie out near the beach. I was wondering if you knew he was out there." He didn't answer her again. "Okay...why aren't you talking to me?"

"Don't try to be so innocent, Kate."  
"What?" He removed her journal and held it up. "You read it?"

"That's right. I know all about you now."  
"You had no right -"

"So you killed your dad, huh?"  
"I was defending myself!"

"That's not even the bad part..." he flipped to a certain page and read it to her. "'He wasn't looking so I bent over the counter and took out the $700 in the drawer. He didn't even notice.'" Kate was astonished. "'I left quickly. When I got outside, I hitched a ride downtown to a bar. I gave the bartender the money and he gave me a plane ticket and a gun.'"

Kate's face was flushed white.

"That's right, Kate. I know everything you did. At first I refused to believe you could be anything more dangerous than a squirrel. I didn't want to believe the marshall that you were a fugitive. But now I see all that you did. So what did you do with that gun, Kate?"

She was too scared to speak. "Well, we'll just look on the next page..." he flipped over. "'After I stayed at his house, I shot him and took his money."

"It was my Uncle!"

"That makes it okay?"  
"He abused me when I was younger. I used an alias and stayed the night. He hit on me and tried to get me in bed with him. I told him no, but he still tried. So I shot him. The gun was for protection."

"What about all the other people you shot?"

"I only shot my dad and my uncle! Like I said, it was for protection!"

"Here, Kate. Take it. I don't want to see it anymore."

He turned away from her. She watched him for a moment. Then, she stormed out of the tent and began to head for the beach.

"Kate! Where are you going?" Sayid asked.

"I'm not staying here anymore."  
"You're going to the beach?"  
"It's better than the prison here."  
"It's not safe! Sawyer's down there!"

"Right now, I trust Sawyer more than anyone else."

Without arguing, he let her go. After a moment, he went off into the tent.

"Jack, Kate's leaving."

"Then let her go."

"She's going to the beach! Sawyer's down there!"  
"Then let Sawyer wipe away her tears. I'm not doing it for her."

After waiting for a moment, he walked out of the tent.

* * *

Poor poor Kate. What will Sawyer say? and what was with charlie? next chapter comin either tomorrow or in 2 days for sure! just be patient! and once again im sorry it took so long for me to write!!! 


	17. Would it be Wrong?

Reference to song: Evanescence - My Immortal...I DON'T OWN IT!!!  
**CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: Would it be Wrong?**

_These wounds won't seem to heal_

_This pain is just too real_

_There's just too much that time can not erase_

It was still pouring rain. With the fact that it was raining and that she was crying made it hard for her to see where she was going. But in a few seconds she was at the beach. So many thoughts were on her mind that she actually forgot where Sawyer might be. She shook her head clear of Jack and remembered. She stood outside his tent for a moment, breathing in deeply. No, she couldn't do this! She was too scared. She turned around, her head hanging down, thinking.

"Looking for someone?" Sawyer's voice called out.

She was startled to see him, but she saw him standing on the shore. She smiled to herself. It felt like the only time she had looked at him and felt safety. She slowly made her way up to him.

"Hi." she started.

"You weren't trying to steal anything, were you?"

She smiled. "No."

There was an awkward silence between them for a moment. Sawyer broke the silence.

"So...you going to tell me what was the matter earlier?"

"No...but...I'm...I'm sorry I just left like that."

"Don't be sorry."  
"I was just...angry and hurt."  
"I'll always be waiting."

"You're about the only one."

That made him happy to hear it.

"I think you're the only person on the island that I can relate to."  
"And it kills you, doesn't it?"  
"No...it doesn't. What you said...how the only person you can't trust is the one you can trust the most."

"You're finally seeing it, huh?"  
"Yeah."

"So...what did he say?"  
"What?"  
"Jack must've pissed you off to make you storm off like that."

Kate looked away.

"Sorry, I didn't..."

"He found my journal that I've had since I was about 7. I thought I'd burned it. It had everything in it. And he read it. Now he doesn't trust me at all."

It was quiet for a moment. He started to walk away.

"Where are you -"

"Come with me."

Kate was a bit nervous, but maybe she should just go with him. So she did. They went into his tent. He rummaged through his bag and removed a black notebook. He handed it to her. She looked at him for a moment, trying to see if he seriously wanted her to read it.

"Go ahead."

She slowly opened it and read it out loud.

"When I find that man who caused me so much pain, he's going to pay for it. I don't know what I'm going to do. I think I'm just going to go to Uncle Harry's. I'll get some money from him and then get out of this damn country." She turned the page. "I'm in trouble now. I owe Uncle Harry's gang about $6,000. Where am I going to get it? I think I can steal it from some pretty lady's dumb husband." She turned it again. "I couldn't go through with it. Seeing her son walk into the room with that look on his face reminded me exactly of myself. I couldn't hurt that kid the same way I was hurt. So I walked out on them. Now I'm on a plane to Australia. I don't know what I'm going to do when I get there, but at least Uncle Harry won't find me."

It was quiet as she stood still. She closed it. He took it from her.

"We all had our pasts, Freckles. But here, they're not important. All that matters is what you're going to make of yourself now."

Kate knew he was right. Why did it have to be true? She looked down, because she could feel her eyes flooding again. Why did he have to be right there? She couldn't run this time. She felt a tear run down her cheek. It was hot. Sawyer touched her chin and raised her face to look him in the eye. He wiped away her tears. They slowly moved in to kiss. Kate enjoyed it. It was probably the only time on the island she felt safe. It was probably the only time in the past 10 years that she had felt loved. She could tell that he really did love her. He didn't just want her because she was beautiful or had a nice body. She wanted to never stop kissing him.

_When you cried I'd wipe away all of your tears_

_When you scream I'd fight away all of your fears_

_And I held your hand through all of these years_

_But you still have all of me_

She slowly pulled away from him. He stared down at her, and she slowly looked up at him. She stepped away from him.

"Um...thanks...Sawyer."

"For what?"  
"For...for actually understanding me."

He smiled to himself. She stepped outside the tent. Sawyer came with her. He held up his journal and removed his lighter. He set it to a flame and then tossed it on a pile of brush he had gathered earlier.

"Next?" he said to Kate.

She removed her brown journal from her backpocket. She looked at it for a moment, then tossed it into the flame. The both watched it burn.

Maybe Sawyer did feel serious about her. She could tell by the way he kissed her. Would it be so wrong if she did fall in love with Sawyer?

* * *

sorry guys my puter crashed this week so i couldn't post my story. but its fixed now. and thanx for those reviews. luv ya! keep readin! 


	18. Jack Confronts Kate

Reference to song: Evanescence - My Immortal...I DON'T OWN IT!!!

**CHAPTER EIGHTEEN: Jack confronts Kate**

Jack hardly got any sleep that night. He had Kate on his mind all night. He didn't want to drive her away, but he was pretty pissed off with her. She had done the unthinkable, but maybe she had the right to. After all, she was just defending herself. But she went crazy! Jack groaned as he awoke, still tired. He knew he needed to get up, so he did. Maybe he should just go apologize to Kate and explain himself...no! It was her who needed to explain! But why would she talk to him? He had practically called her a lying, deceitful fugitive right to her face. Who was he kidding? She wasn't going to talk to him. He was going to have to talk to her.

He stood up and went outside. Sayid was already awake, playing with the transceiver.

"Good morning, Jack."

"Morning."

He filled up a water bottle and took a drink.

"So...what happened between you and Kate last night?"

"Nothing...I just...I got a little out of hand."

"Are you going to talk to her?"

"I don't know."

He could sense that Jack was already irritated, so he stopped asking questions. As soon as Jack was sure everything was running smoothly, he was going to go check on Kate and apologize to her.

* * *

Kate slowly opened her eyes and looked up. She was in Sawyer's tent. Oh, no...did she do something she would regret? She tried to recollect the things that happened the night before...no, they didn't do anything. They sat around the fire together and talked, kissed, maybe, but that was it. Nothing more than that. She just remembered needing to sleep somewhere and stayed in the tent with Sawyer. She was glad that he hadn't tried to pull anything sneaky.

She sat up. Sawyer was not in the tent. _Must be outside,_ she thought. She slowly got up and went outside. The sun wasn't out, but it wasn't raining. It was cloudy and a bit drifty, but it was fine. She looked around for Sawyer, but didn't see him. Her throat was dry, but she wasn't about to go to the caves where Jack was. She wasn't that thirsty. But where was Sawyer?

"You looking for Sawyer?" a voice called. It was Claire. She had the baby resting in her arm as she tried to write in her journal. Kate came up to her.

"Yeah, have you seen him?"  
"I think he headed for the caves."

Kate looked off in that distance. What was he doing over there?

"You stayed the night here?"  
"Yeah."  
"Everything okay?"  
"Fine, thanks."

Kate dreaded going to the caves. She didn't want to see Jack, but she wanted to find Sawyer. She began to take off when Claire stopped her.

"Are you going there?"  
"Yeah."  
"Would you mind if I went with you? I was thinking of heading off myself, but it's a bit spooky walking through there alone. Well, maybe not for you, but I'm not very brave."

Kate grinned at her. "Yeah. Come on."

Smiling, Claire stood up with all her stuff and joined Kate in walking back to the caves.

"So...you stayed the night with Sawyer?" Claire asked.

"Nothing happened." she said quickly.

"Oh."

"Did you stay on the beach or in the caves?"  
"The caves. I came here this morning. I wanted to be near the ocean."  
"I know what you mean."

They came upon the camp. Sayid was the first to notice them.

"Kate, you're back!" he said. He stood up.

"Have you seen Sawyer?" she asked.

"I think he's...in the tent."

Kate looked over there, then went in. Sawyer and Jack were arguing. They stopped when they saw her.

"Kate? What are you doing here?" Jack asked.

She crossed her arms across her chest. "Nothing. I came for some water...and now that I have it, I'm leaving."

She left the tent.

"Kate! Wait!" Jack called.

He chased after Kate and stopped her.

"Look, I need to talk to you."

"About what? So you can tell me how much of a screw-up I am?"  
"No, Kate -"

"Oh, I forgot. You did that last night."

She continued to walk away.

"Kate, I shouldn't have harped on it like I did. It was none of my business to read it in the first place, and it was definitely none of my business to put the pressure on you for it."

"Oh, you say it, but you don't mean it."  
"I wouldn't be saying it if I didn't mean it."  
"I'm through with it, Jack."

He followed her as she walked out to the beach.

"With what?"  
"With trying to be something for you. I try and try, but I'm just never going to be good enough for you. I chase after you, but you don't chase after me. I was right there, Jack, and I was waiting. But I'm not waiting any longer."

"Now this has to do with how you feel towards me?"

"It always did, Jack!"  
"No, it didn't."  
"I ran to Sawyer because he and I have a connection. You and I don't! You won't even look me in the eye when I talk to you!"

He looked away, feeling guilty.

"And after all, you were the one who said that our pasts didn't matter on the island. And I wanted to believe you. I know what I did was wrong, but I was protecting myself. Do you think I wanted to shoot my dad? As much as I hated him, I would've never intentionally killed him. I've lived on what I did every single day for the past 10 years, and when you told me it didn't matter here, I wanted so badly to just forget about it, but I couldn't. So when I finally almost did, you went and brought it up again by reading the journal."

She started walking away again.

"So you admit you have a connection with Sawyer?"

"More than you and I do."

"How so? You actually trust him?"

"Right now, more than anyone."

"Why, because he kissed you?"  
"No. Because he'll at least admit his feelings for me."  
"And you believe him?"  
"I can tell when he's being honest, Jack."

"Of course you can. Youguys are best friends."  
"I'm the only friend he's got."  
"Or girlfriend?"  
"If it's so unimportant to you why do you keep bringing it up? It's not like you're ever going to tell me your true feelings."  
"I thought I did."  
"No, you didn't! You're so scared to tell me that you'll come up with any reason to avoid it! The kiss, the journal..."

"Me? Scared? Of all the people to say so!"  
"What does that mean?"

"You ran to Sawyer because you love him. Or because you don't love him."

"What?"  
"You went to him because you love him, or you wanted to rub it in my face that you were going to him."

"No, I ran to him because he's the only person on this island who will hear me out."

"And you can relate to him?"  
"Both."  
"So go to him. He's waiting."

"Maybe I will."

She left to the beach. Jack stopped, and then turned back to the caves. She was so angry! He had no right to talk to her like that! But maybe she hadn't exactly been so compassionate when he tried to apologize, if that was what he was doing. What was she thinking? He had accused her of the unthinkable! She wasn't that kind of person. She was only defending herself! She paced the beach back and forth, anger surging through her. Why did he have to act like this?

"Freckles!" Sawyer called.

He ran up to her as she continued to pace the shore.

"What did he say to you?"  
"Nothing. I'm fine."

"You don't look it."

"I'm fine!" she shouted.

He gave her a startled look. "Sorry." He said with attitude.

He was only trying to help. A bit angry, she sensed, he went away, leaving her alone. All she wanted was to be alone. She felt like screaming. Jack was completely being annoying! That journal was none of his business, nor anyone else's. Now she was certain everyone knew about her. They would look at her strangely and shun her. _So what,_ she thought. She had lived her whole life on her own. Did she honestly think that would change? How stupid she had been to fall for either Sawyer or Jack. Opening up to either of them wasn't going anywhere. Jack was pissed when she was with him, or wasn't with him. Sawyer was pissed when she was with Jack. She couldn't please everyone! Why did Jack have to be so complicated? It made her sad to think that he was afraid of her.

_You used to captivate me by your resonating light_

_Now I'm bound by the life you left behind_

_Your face it haunts my once pleasant dreams_

_Your voice it chased away all the sanity in me_

With one last look into the ocean, she began walking in the opposite direction along the shore. She didn't know where it led to, much less cared. But she was going to find out.

* * *

so whats gonna happen to kate? and how do sawyer and jack feel? maybe ill put up chapter 19 tomorrow. thats a good one. im runnin outta chapts to put up! im still workin on chapt 22, but its good too! so stay with me guys... 


	19. Disappearance

**CHAPTER NINETEEN: Disappearance**

He was angry with her, but at the same time, he pitied her. Jack wasn't sure what he should do. He certainly couldn't and wouldn't go chasing after her. He had tried to apologize, and she wouldn't even give him a chance. So why should he try so hard to convince her that he was truly sorry? Why? Because he loved her.

He wasn't sure if he did at first, but now it was clear to him that he did. That was why he was so angry whenever he saw her with Sawyer. The only time it was okay, to him, for her to be around Sawyer was when she was telling him off, and that hadn't happened in a few days. It didn't just make him angry, it enraged him! How come she couldn't see that he loved her? What more did she want? To have it printed in next week's newspaper on the cover? He had tried over and over again to get her to notice him, but she just wouldn't. The only thing she noticed was Sawyer.

He was getting frustrated with himself. Not only about Kate, but also with what he was doing. He just couldn't get the damn briefcase to close shut! Enraged, he threw it aside.

"Damn thing!" he cried out. "Damn briefcase, damn Sawyer, damn everything!"

Charlie came in.

"Take it easy, Jack! What's wrong?"

"The briefcase wouldn't shut."  
"So that's why you shouted out 'damn Sawyer, damn everything?'"

"Yes."

"So what did happen between you and Kate?"

"She's pissed off at me."

"Is there a reason for her to be?"

"I was mad about what I read in the journal and told her off. Then she went to the beach to go with Sawyer. She came back this morning, after Sawyer came to yell at me, and I tried to apologize for being overreactive, but she wouldn't listen. Then I told her to just leave and go to him and she left. Just like that."

He picked up the briefcase and started trying to close it.

"I'm sorry Jack. Part of this is my fault. If I didn't show you the journal -"  
"If you didn't show me the journal, then I never would've known what she did."

"Right."  
"But I'm glad that I found out. I wish I just wouldn't have been so dramatic about it."

"Well...I'm sorry."  
"It's not your fault, Charlie."

He still couldn't shut the briefcase.

"Let me have a go." Charlie said.

He took it from Jack, pushed in the material that was hanging out on the side and latched it shut. He gave it back to Jack.

"Better?"  
"Thanks."

Smiling, he exited the tent. Jack sat still, thinking for a moment. He needed to talk to Kate, only this time, he was going to tell her how he felt about her. Getting up and leaving the tent, he headed for the beach. He just didn't want to have to see Sawyer.

Sawyer lit a cigarette and inhaled the smoke. He had gone to talk with Jack earlier about how he had treated Kate, and how she had stormed onto the beach, crying. He also made it clear that, in his opinion, Jack didn't deserve her. "You were just jealous." Sawyer said. "That's why you jumped me after you saw us making out on the beach."

With that thought hanging nearby, he shook his head. Jackass was so jealous of him, he could almost taste it. Why would Kate even go for a guy like him? The good, angelic doctor versus the tough, bad outlaw. Kate was a bad girl, and matching up the devil with the angel wasn't going to work. That's why Sawyer _knew_ that their meeting wasn't a mistake. Everything happened for a reason.

Thinking of Kate, where was she? He glanced out to where he had last seen her. She was gone. After what had happened, he doubted that she had ran off to Jack. With that thought on mind, Jack came walking up.

"Can I help you?" Sawyer said, irritated that Jack had the nerve to come within 10 feet of him. Too bad restraining orders weren't effective on the island.

"Where's Kate?"  
"Why don't you call her on your walkie-talkie?"

"Where-is-she?"

"She was on the shore, last I saw."

"Do you know where she went?"  
"Well, I didn't figure she ran off to you, 'specially after all that crap you said to her."

"I don't give a damn about what you think of me, Sawyer. I need to know where she went."

"I told you, Jackass. I don't know!"

Jack sighed and looked out to the shore. He walked away.

"Nice talking with you, Doc!"

Jack ignored Sawyer's sarcasm. Where could she be? She wasn't at the caves, or at the beach. Had she gotten hurt? He didn't want to believe it, but it was very likely on this Island of Wonder. He prayed that she was safe. He would rather see her wrapped in Sawyer's arms than see her hurt. If she was out there all alone, who knew what could happen? Millions of different ideas went through his head. Falling down the cliff, getting kidnapped by the others, a polar bear, the crazy monster...oh, no! _I hope she's okay,_ Jack thought.

"Kate!" He called out. "Are you there?"

Even if she was okay, it's not like she was going to answer him. What had he done? Why did he have to even find that journal in the first place? Now he had driven away the only woman he had ever really loved.

"Kate!" he called again.

He pushed his way through some bushes. Now he was really starting to get worried. Where was she? If she was hurt, he would never forgive himself. He stopped walking. He needed help. He couldn't find her all on his own. He would go back to the caves and get help. He quickly made his way past Sawyer without saying anything, but Sawyer stopped him.

"You find her?"

"No."  
He stood up. "What?"  
"No, I didn't!"  
"Where do you think she went?"  
"I don't know."

"Where are you going?"

"To the caves."

"Why?"  
"To get some help."  
"And I can't do that?"

Jack stopped and looked back at him. He let out a half laugh, half scoff.

"Do what you want, Sawyer. You always do anyways."

He continued on his way back to the caves. He found Sayid first, who was washing his hands.

"Sayid, Kate's missing."

"What?"  
"Sawyer hasn't seen her, and neither have I. I needed to come back and get some help to find her."

"Would you like me to help you?"  
"If you don't mind..."

He "air-dried" his hands and grabbed his backpack. They quickly made their way back to the beach.

"You coming, Sawyer?" Jack asked.

Without answering, he followed along.

"Do you have any idea as to where she might be?" Sayid asked.  
"No. Sawyer?"  
"Like I said, the last place I saw her was on the shore. Then she was gone."

"Maybe she just took a walk." Jack suggested.  
"To where, Doctor Doolittle?"

"That's what I'm worried about. She could've gone anywhere."  
"And it's all thanks to you."

Jack rolled his eyes and started walking in the opposite direction along the shore. He stopped when he reached the huge cliff in front of him. He looked up to the top of it.

"You think we could get up there?" Jack asked.

"Maybe. It's worth a try." Sayid said.

"Or maybe not," Sawyer said. "We miss a step, we fall to our deaths."  
"If you love her as much as you make it seem, then you'd put yourself on the line for her."

He knew he couldn't argue with that one, and since he couldn't come up with anything sarcastic to say, he just kept his mouth shut and followed them as they headed up the cliff. It was a very dangerous and risky chance they were taking, but they were willing to do it for Kate. They finally reached the top, out of breath.

"Where to now?" Sawyer asked.

Jack began walking away and headed into the small maze of trees. Up here, the air was cold and wet, and it was even foggy.

"Kate!" Jack called.

They continued walking. Then, Jack stopped.

"Where's Sawyer?"

Sawyer had disappeared from the group.

"Sawyer!" Jack called.

"Down here, Jackass!" a voice called back.

Jack and Sayid quickly followed his voice.

"Come here, Doc." he said.

Sawyer was down in an empty trench, which looked like it was a dried up river. But why would it be up so high? He was kneeling down, holding something in his hand.

"I found a clue, Sherlock." he handed Jack a small, white and red pill. "What is it?"

"It's a knockout pill."

"So she was kidnapped?" Sawyer asked.

"It looks like it."  
"By who?"  
"Could be anyone."  
"Wonderful."

He stood up. He followed the trench deeper into the jungle. A huge pile of rocks were at the end.

"Is this what dried this river up?" Jack asked Sayid.

"Looks like it."  
"Or not..." Sawyer said, apparently thinking about something.

Suddenly, he began throwing the rocks aside, as if trying to uncover something. Jack watched him curiously.

"What are you onto, Sawyer?"

He didn't answer, but continued to uncover the rocks. Jack and Sayid joined in. What was Sawyer onto?

* * *

so whats gonna happen? what is sawyer finding? huh? huh? i asked a question! hehehe, im acting stupid right now. but keep waiten and ill try to put up another chapt tomorrow. that ones a good one. im still stuck in chapt 22, but not to worry, ill get on a roll again soon! review please! 


	20. Airplane

NHRALUVER: Sorry took so long guys! ive been extremely busy this week. today ive finally found time to breathe. so i hope youguys like this chapter, and oh yeah, i want to introduce you to my friend.

>:-D : This is ReviewMonster. He looks cute huh? But the only thing is is that he could die if you dont send in more reviews, and we dont want him to die now do we? so keep feeding reviews and he'llstay alive! oh yeah, ill be happy too. so read on!

**

* * *

CHAPTER TWENTY: Airplane**

Claire rocked the baby in her arms, smiling when she saw his sweet face sleeping. Charlie came up to her, his guitar strap around his shoulder.

"Hi, Charlie."  
Hey..."

He sat down next to her, readying his guitar to play it.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Well, my dear..." he said as he tuned it. He strummed it twice to check if it was in tune. "I am playing a song that I wrote for you."  
"You wrote a song for me?" she smiled.

"I did. Can I play it for you?"

She looked down at the baby and covered his head gently so he wouldn't wake up.

She smiled. "Go ahead."

He strummed the strings into a soft note and started singing.

"Claire..." he started. "Her name is a beautiful one. It flicks off my tongue...she's beautiful and sweet, I've never met anyone as nice as her...C is for Compassionate. She loves everyone and she's so nice...L is for the love she shows to everyone, even the people she hardly knows...A is for..." he stopped and thought. Claire laughed. "Always...wanting to...write in her journal..." he said slowly. She laughed again. "Or..." he said, a bright idea crossing his face, "The L could've been for her beautiul laugh..." he strummed the strings some more. "I is for how when I see her...wait, no..." Claire laughed again. "Her _eyes_ are beautiful blue ones...R is for really wanting to laugh at me for making such a stupid song..." he smiled when she laughed again. "And finally...E is for even though we're on the island in the middle of nowhere, she still finds a way to keep everyone cheered up."

He played five more notes and stopped. Claire was smiling.

"So...what'd you think?"

She laughed. "You're so sweet, Charlie."  
"I know it wasn't a single album hit, but I just wanted to play it for you."

"I loved it. Thank you. That definitely made my day."  
"I'm glad to have helped you out, love."

Before he stood up, she leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. He sat still, stunned. He slowly looked at her, she was smiling.

"That was for the beautiful song."

"Y-Yeah...anytime."

She laughed as he stood up and left.

* * *

Jack, Sawyer and Sayid were still uncovering the rocks. None of them spoke. They were too afraid to ask anything. They hastily removed the rocks. Suddenly, they saw a shoe sticking out from under a few more rocks. It was Kate!

"Kate! Kate, can you hear me?" Jack called into the pile of rocks. There was no response.

"Come on. Just keep uncovering her." Sawyer said quietly.

They didn't stop, no matter how heavy the rock was. Finally, after 10 minutes of removing rocks, they saw that she was in a small ditch covered in dirt, so that the rocks wouldn't crush her to death. Sawyer gently grabbed her foot, preparing to pull her out.

"No, don't. It could hurt her."  
"So what do we do, Mr. Garreson?"

"You have to gently get her out. Take hold of her foot."

He did so. Jack gently tugged on her leg. She slowly came out. Her hands were tied together, resting on her stomach. She was scratched up badly. The most startling appearance of all was the white bag covering her head.

"Oh, damn!" Sawyer said.  
"Untie her hands," Jack told him. He quickly did so.

Jack began to take the bag off her head.

"Jack..." Sayid said slowly. He stopped and looked at him. Then, he looked back at Kate. "Come on, Kate. Please be okay..."

He removed the bag off her head. Her face was scratched up and bruised, but nothing else. He touched for a pulse on her neck.

"Is she..." Sawyer asked slowly.

"She's alive." he said. "Come on, guys. We have to get her down the hill."

Jack picked her up in a cradling position. Sayid and Sawyer helped.

"Where do you think you're taking her?" a voice said. Out of the shadows stepped a man.

"Who are you?" Sayid asked.

"Leave her where she is."

"Okay. Whatever." Sawyer said.

"If any of you want to get back to camp alive, you'll leave her where she was."  
"What did you do to her? Why did you take her?"

"That's irrelovant. What isn't irrelovant is whether or not you're going to listen to me and put her back where she was."

Jack looked over at Sawyer and gently handed her to him. The man unlocked a pocket knife.

"Are you sure you want to do this?"  
"Oh, I'm sure."  
"It's your choice, then, Doctor."

He charged at him, attempting to stab him. Jack grabbed him and tossed him to the ground. They were engaged in a fight for survival. The man pinned Jack on his back and was trying hard to stab him.

"Let's go, Sawyer." Sayid said.

"What about Jackass?"

"We need to get Kate out of here."

They left as quickly as they could.

"How are we gonna get down the hill?"

"We'll wait at the top and try to wake her up."

They stopped a couple feet up ahead and tried to wake Kate.

"Kate? Can you hear me? It's Sayid. Come on, wake up..."

He got in his backpack and removed a water bottle. He gently gave some water to Kate. She coughed and choked on the water, spitting it back out. She coughed some more and her eyes slowly opened, looking up at Sayid.

"Sayid?"

"Kate! Are you alright?"

"I..."

"Course she's not alright! She looks like she got ran over by an elephant!"

They heard a loud scream from where Jack had been. Kate sat up as best as she could, but not without grunting from the pain, wincing her face.

"Where's Jack?"

"He -"

"You go. I'll stay here." Sawyer said.

Sayid got up and ran back to where Jack was. Before he got there, the man had Jack on the ground with the knife in his shoulder. He removed the knife and Jack screamed again. He put a foot on his chest and bent over so he was closer to Jack.

"I warned you that it was your choice, but you didn't listen."

He took his foot off his chest and kicked him roughly in the side, which hunched him over. He sat Jack up on his knees and put the knife to his throat.

"I'm sorry you wouldn't listen to me."

He almost sliced Jack's throat when he was knocked to the ground by Sayid. Jack collapsed onto his stomach. The man quickly stood up and charged after Sayid, the knife in the air, ready to stab him. He grabbed his wrist and twisted it under, forcing him to release his grip on the knife. Sayid head-butted him and he fell to the ground, passed out cold. Jack was slowly sitting up. Sayid came to help him.

"Are you okay?"  
"Yeah, I'll be fine. Is Kate okay?"  
"She woke up. Sawyer's with her."

"We should go to her."

Sayid helped him stand. They slowly walked back to where Kate was. Jack kneeled down next to her.

"Jack, are you -"

"Okay? Yeah. You?"  
"Fine."

"Do you think you could stand?"  
"Yeah..."

She tried to get up, but she was badly hurt on her ribs. Sawyer and Jack helped her stand by helping pull her up by her arms.

"What hurts? Besides everything." She laughed slightly. "Does it hurt to walk?"

"No. I think I can do that part."

They slowly let go of her arms and let her stand on her own.

"It's a long walk back down to the beach. You think you can handle it?"  
"Do you have to ask?"

Jack grinned and they started walking to the cliff. They very slowly made their way back to the beach. When they got there, it was the afternoon and Jack suggested them resting where they were before they continued back to the caves. They sat down on the sand and opened water bottles.

"Kate, do you remember anything?"  
She breathed in deeply. "I was walking along the shore, heading this way. Then some guys came out from the bushes and jumped me. They forced some kind of pill down my throat, tied my hands, and bagged my head. I was out in five. That's all I remember."

Jack glanced over at Sawyer. "Do you know why they did this?"  
"No."  
"Maybe..." Sawyer said slowly. "They were trying to keep her from getting somewhere they didn't want her to go."

Jack thought about that for a moment. They didn't just jump her for no reason, not just because they were bored. There had to be a reason. Perhaps Sawyer was right? What if she was unknowingly walking into a place where the mob gang had something secret stashed that she couldn't know about? She could've been walking right into it, and they didn't want her to find it, so they knocked her out.

"That's probably what happened." Jack said. "We should go check it out."

Sayid protested. "Jack, no. Not with Kate like -"

"I'm fine." she said. "I want to find out, too."

Sayid sighed. "I'll come with you, but I don't think it's a good idea, going out in the dark."  
"Are you coming, Sawyer?" Jack asked.  
"No point in walking back now."

In his mind, Jack sighed. He didn't want Sawyer to come, because then Kate would be paying all her attention to him. What about Jack? It was his idea to go save her. He found out in the first place that she was missing when he went to go apologize to her for his rude behavior. So why should he put up with another snub? Oh, well. He couldn't tell him no.

"Then let's go."

They put away the water and started to walk in that direction.

"Be on alert, guys." Jack said. "We don't want this to happen again."

With that thought on mind, they watched cautiously around. The small group of four continued to walk through the jungle. The air was wet, and the ground was slippery, but they didn't stop. There was something about the island that didn't make sense. Kate stopped.

"You guys, look!"

She pointed up. A plane was flying overhead, but it was very low.

"Hey!" Sawyer screamed. "Down here!"

Jack silenced him. "Be quiet!"

They obeyed and watched the plane. They could hear that it was landing, and it was landing somewhere on the island.

"It's on the island." Kate said.

"You want to stay here forever, Doc?" Sawyer asked, annoyed that he had kept him quiet.  
"You guys, that wasn't a rescue plane, or a tourist plane...that was a mob plane."

"How do you know that, Sir Wayne?"

"Ethan was a mob member from a different plane."

"Okay, and?" Sawyer said, irritated.

"That plane was different from a regular plane. Something's going on in this island that we don't know about."  
"Like what, an invasion from Mars?"

"What do you think they're doing here?" Sayid asked.

"I don't know. But we're going to find out."

They continued to tread through the forest, deeper in through the trees and plants. Finally, up ahead they heard something. It was a whirring sound like that of a plane. They could see dim lights in white and red. They peered out through the bushes and saw the plane and several people.

"Is this a political meeting?" Sawyer said.

"It looks like they're smuggling stuff." Kate said. They all looked over at her.

"How would you know that?"  
"My uncle used to smuggle all sorts of stuff. Weapons, drugs, anything he liked that could get him in trouble with the authorities."

Jack looked away suspiciously. Was she talking about her uncle that she shot? Who knew. That wasn't a time to bring it up.

"Can you see what they have?" Sayid asked.

"Jack, the binoculars."

He removed them and handed them to her. She looked through them.

"What is it?" Jack asked.  
"It looks like...guns, knives, bombs, and drugs."  
"Why, though?" Sayid asked. Kate handed the binoculars to Jack and he peered through them.

"That's what this whole island's for. They stash all their stuff." Kate said.

"Why not stash it in an old warehouse?" Sawyer asked.  
"It's not traceable here. Like the pilot said, they won't find us. They're looking for us in the wrong direction, if they're still looking at all."  
"So Ethan's plane never crashed." Jack said.

"Looks like it." Kate said. "They know we're here. They just can't tell anyone."

"No planes are allowed to go this far off course." Jack said.

"Not only that, they have all that illegal stuff." Sawyer said.

"So how do we get off this island?" Sayid asked.

It was quiet. No one wanted to admit the true answer: that they might never get off. A moment of silence passed before anyone spoke.

"So what are we going to do now?" Sawyer asked.

"We should head back to camp." Jack said.

"Wait..." Kate said. She appeared to be thinking about something. "Sayid, you know how you said that there was that thing that was keeping communications and rescue boats from coming to us?"  
"Yes. Why?"  
"Maybe they..." she pointed to the plane. "Picked up the signal and created a fake call back, just so no one would be able to rescue us and find their stuff."  
"It's entirely possible..." Sayid said, considering it.  
"They're that desperate to not let anyone find this stuff?"  
"Or maybe that's a cover up for them to not find us." Kate said. They looked over at her.

"What do you mean?" Sayid asked.

"If they're trying to not let anyone find us, then storing illegal stuff would cover it up. That way, if anyone ever did come here, then they would think that they were just storing all that stuff here instead of anyone else being on the island."

"But that's too easy." Jack said. "All that would have to happen is someone at the beach or the caves would hear the plane, come check it out, and they would be rescued. Do you think they'd make it that easy for themselves to get caught?"

They all thought about it for a moment. Jack was right.  
"We need to find out how the plane crashed." Sayid said. "Then we might know why they want us here."

"Planes don't go this far off course. The pilot was probably trying to make a turn back and hit low turbulence. That might be what caused the plane to crash."  
"Is that the same thing that happened with the French woman's plane?" Kate asked.

"Before we find out why they're here, we're going to have to first figure out how we got on this island." Sayid said standing up. The others stood up with him. "Right now, we should just get back to camp. We don't want to worry the others."

They began exiting quietly. No one said a word, hardly, on the way back. They were thinking over what the possible reasons might be as to why the plane crashed. Up ahead, the thunder crashed. It began to sprinkle, and out in the distance, they could see some lightning. Jack looked off in its direction.

"Storm's coming in. We should get back."

Making a sudden turn to the right, they began to head off to the caves. Sawyer went his own way towards the beach. Kate watched him go, afraid to ask him if he would go back to the caves with them, but she didn't want to get Jack mad and she didn't want to nag on Sawyer, so she just followed Sayid and Jack back to the caves.

* * *

so how was it? ya like? well i know yall will like the next chapter, an ta give you a LITTLE hint, it involves a little kate/sawyer moments. so stay with me! 


	21. The Raging Storm

**CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE: Raging Storm**

The thunder crashed overhead. A strong wind rushed through the camp, attacking the fire's flames. It was also freezing on their backs and bare arms. Sayid and Jack piled some more wood on the fire to keep it alive. Kate came out from the cave as she put a sweater on.

"You think we should all get inside, Jack?" Boone asked.  
"Not yet. It's not that bad."

As he spoke, a huge lightning bolt was seen overhead. It looked extremely close to the ground.

"That was pretty close." Boone said, a bit worried. "Are you sure?"

"If you want to pack up and go in, go right ahead. But we'll be fine. I've seen worse."

Boone, still nervous, headed into one of the caves. After he did, several others followed, thinking his idea was a good one. Kate came up to Jack, who was standing near Sayid as the two gathered wood and sticks into a pile.

"Storm's got everyone a bit frazzled. You think we should head in?"  
"Like I told Boone, we'll be fine. The storm will pass overnight. No need to get worked up over it."

"I know, but...the wind's getting pretty strong, and the lightning's getting pretty close."

"You're not scared, are you?" Jack asked teasingly.

"No." she rolled her eyes. "But I'm just saying..."

Jack continued with what he was doing., then he stopped and faced her.

"If you want to help, make sure everyone's doing okay. Get together all the supplies and make sure they're tied down. And your friend down at the beach might want to change his mind and stay the night here."  
"Why?"

"Just to be safe. I'm not saying this storm isn't going to be big, but it's nothing to worry about. I'm just afraid it might cause a higher tide to come in on the beach-stayers, that's all."

Kate thought about it for a moment. It was true. It wasn't safe being at the beach. With possibilities of hurricanes close at risk and having other survivors be near to it wasn't a good idea. Maybe she would bring Sawyer in. It was okay with Jack, because he suggested it.

"Alright."

"Alright what?"  
"I'll go get him."  
"Just hurry back."  
"You're not scared, are you?" she grinned at him, asking him his own question.

He smiled. "Just be careful."

Kate smiled as she walked off towards the beach. Jack watched her leave and then returned to his work.

"You are okay with that?" Sayid asked, helping him.

"Maybe I've been a hound about it. She can make up her own mind."

"You're hearing yourself?"  
"Yeah. I mean, God only knows how long we'll be here. Might as well get to make our own minds up, right?"

Sayid grinned.

"That's something new from you."

The wind howled and the trees swayed as Kate treaded through the jungle. She was very cold. In fact, she was so cold that she wondered why she had decided to do this in the first place. _Sawyer. You have to get him to come to the caves,_ she reminded herself. No matter what Jack said, she couldn't help but feel a bit worried about the condition of the weather. This was the worst storm she had ever seen. But Jack seemed sure that everything was okay. This was probably the one time she didn't trust him.

As she stepped over a rock, her shoe got stuck in a giant mud puddle and it squished beneath her boot. She tugged at it until it came loose. This was terrible. Her whole ankle was covered in mud! Oh, well. She was going to get soaked anyways. She continued towards the beach, shaking off as much mud as she could. The thing that worried her the most was that anything could pop out of nowhere at anytime and she wouldn't even be able to suspect it because of the loudness around her. The thought worried her, and she headed towards the beach even faster. Suddenly, something grabbed her. She screamed and fought her way until she realized that it was Sawyer.

"Hey! Calm down, Freckles! It's me!"

"Sawyer? What the hell are you doing?"

"I saw something out here and I happened to run into you. What are you doing out here alone? There's King Kong in the jungle and the Perfect Storm in the sky. You're either gonna get eaten or striked by lightning."  
Kate laughed. "I was coming to find you."  
He grinned devilishly. "Oh, yeah?"

"Before you go and get any ideas," she stopped his mind from wandering too far. "Jack said that it would be a good idea if the people on the beach come to the caves. The storm's going to cause a high tide and it's not going to be good."

Sawyer's grin disappeared. "Oh."

He walked back towards his "house."

"Hey, where you going?"

"Back home."

"Why?"  
"Because I can."  
"Oh, come on, Sawyer. Are you really going to stay here and risk yourself just because you don't want to see Jack?"

He plopped down in his chair and leaned back. "I think so."

She rolled her eyes. "You're an idiot."  
"Thank you. You're sweet."  
"Don't do this. I'm telling you, it'll be safer at the caves."  
"I can take care of myself, Freckles. Go back to whatever you were doing and I'll stay here."  
"Sawyer..."  
"Hey," he leaned towards her. "I'm sure Jackass needs you more than I do, so don't keep him waiting." He leaned back.

"You are the most stubborn person I've ever met. You're going to stay here and drown because you want to show Jack up?"  
"A: I'm not going to drown..." he pulled out a snorkel from his collection of things, obviously from the plane. "I have ways to get by. And B: It's not to show Jackass up, it's because I don't feel like going. It's too far a walk."

"Whatever."

"Look, sweetness, the storm's blowing in. You might wanna get back to your safehouse before you get hurt."  
"What makes you think you're going to be okay?"

"I just will!"

"You are so..." she didn't finish her sentence. "You know what, whatever. I'm heading back."

She started walking away, but he stopped her.

"Hey!" She turned around. "You might need this."

He tossed the blue snorkel at her. She caught it and grinned at him as she rolled her eyes. He grinned back, but it wasn't his usual sarcastic grin, it was one that he was trying to get her to laugh. She threw it back at him and he caught it, laughing a little. She walked off, but not without saying something as she walked away.

"Stubborn ass."

Sawyer chuckled to himself. It was always fun to play with Kate, especially when she played back. The storm was a bit nerve-wrecking, though. He would never admit it. He partly wanted to go to the caves, but he didn't want to deal with Jack. Hopefully Kate would get back safely...

In the jungle, he heard a crackling noise. A loud thud hit the ground. He was startled as he turned around. He heard a muffled, feminine scream. He jumped out of his chair. Kate! Was she okay? As if on instinct, he began running into the jungle. He stopped shortly.

"Kate!" he called, though he doubted she would hear him over the roar of the storm. "Kate!"

He was almost sure he had heard a response. He headed off into the left direction where he thought he heard it.

"Kate!" he called again, not stopping.

"Over here..." he barely heard.

He ran faster than ever to where he heard it. To his astonishment, he saw two large trees impaled on top of Kate. One was across her stomach and the other along her leg. For a moment, he stood dazed and scared, but then he came back to reality and rushed to her side, kneeling down. He examined the injury for a moment.

"How bad?" he asked.

"I don't know..." she grunted.

He began to try to lift the trees off of her. He knew he couldn't, but that seemed like the best thing to do. To his surprise, he moved one of them. As he lifted it off the top of her, she groaned in pain. He tossed it aside. The other tree lie across her stomach. Though these trees were small, they were pretty heavy. She was very lucky they hadn't been any bigger, or...

He pushed the thought aside and lifted the heavy tree off of her. She was uncovered.

"Come on. We gotta get you back to the caves."

He gently helped her stand onto her feet. While wrapping an arm around her waist for support and having her put her arm around his neck, they began limping back to the caves.

"All of this wasn't a desperate attempt to get me to the caves, was it?" he asked, grinning.

"I almost got you." Kate said sarcastically.

The wind was stronger than ever, and it nearly knocked them down several times. Suddenly, up ahead another tree came down. Sawyer quickly moved out of the way for both of their safety. He quickly stepped over it. Thing twigs and sticks flew by in the air, several of them hitting both of them in the face, leaving a stinging after-effect and, they were both sure, a little blood. But that was nothing compared to how hard it was trying to get through the wind. It nearly knocked them down several times, but they both held their ground.

_Which way?_ Sawyer thought. For some reason, he couldn't figure out where he was or which way to go! It was as though he had turned around and a million new trees were there. Was he becoming delerious? In fact, he couldn't even remember which way he came in. But he had to! Kate was hurt, and this was a dangerous storm. He_ had _to find the caves. He turned his head in every direction, clearing his mind to think. Where were they? Why was he so lost? Sure, he was worried about Kate, but that hardly clouded his mind.

"You're lost." Kate declared.

"No, I'm not." He said. "I just can't figure out where we are."

"Yeah...this place looks pretty strange."

Another crackling noise was heard and yet another tree came down. The only bad thing was that it was coming down right onto them. They had nowhere to run. _Oh great,_ was Sawyer's last thought before the giant tree toppled on top of him and knocked him flat on his back, and Kate as well. His mind began to blacken quickly. _Kate..._

_Caves...Jack...Kate...tree..._ Sawyer's mind was numb and he felt a throbbing in his head. What had happened? He slowly came back to reality. He groaned as he sat up and rubbed his aching head. He flinched as he touched the spot where a large bump had formed. He shook his head and blinked several times to try to focus on where he was. He didn't hear any rain. He didn't hear any threatening wind. He didn't feel the stinging codlness. Everything was actually calm. But where was he?

He slowly sat up and looked around. He was obviously in the jungle. Kate! Where was she? Was she okay? He immediately stood up, but quickly felt a sharp pain in his side. It was too intense and he fell to the ground. He pulled up his shirt a little on his side to reveal a gaping wound about four inches long. Blood sputtered out from it, and there were crusted dry spots on the outside. The side of his shirt was red. What had happened? Whatever it was, it didn't matter at the moment. He needed to find Kate. All he could do is fight through the pain. He slowly stood again, clutching his side to put pressure on it so it wouldn't bleed. His knees were weak and shaky. He was light-headed. He guessed it was from loss of blood. He looked around.

"Kate!" he called wearily.

Hopefully she was okay. He closed his eyes for a moment to think. It was hard, since he was so easily distracted with the angry slash in his side. But he managed, and instinct told him the caves were north, so maybe Kate headed that way...but why would she leave him? Pushing the thought aside, he starting limping towards the direction of the caves.

"Kate!" he called again.

He noticed his voice becoming more and more faint, and it was a struggle to call out. He strained his eyes and ears for any hints that he might find Kate nearby. And sure enough, up ahead, a limp figure of Kate's body lie face down, sprawled out in the dirt. He made his way over to her as quickly as he could. When he found her, he fell back onto his hands and sat up. He gently turned her over in his hands. He felt for a pulse. He might not be as medical-smart as Jack, but he knew the basic-common tricks. A light pulse was felt in her neck. He closed his eyes with relief and swallowed, then opened them. He managed to pick her up in his arms.

"OWWW! DAMMIT!" he cried loudly.

It felt as though someone had pulled the skin back on the sides of his cut. He nearly fell down, but kept his balance. Suddenly, he heard the treatening cry of the monster in the jungle. He jerked his head every way. Was he imagining it? Or was he in deep trouble? He needed to get somewhere safe. It was going to be extremely hard. He ran as fast as he could, which wasn't much faster than walking, towards where he thought the caves were. The ground quaked and the monster cried. He was sure he was going to die.

But then, up ahead there were some trees that they could hide in. He ran into them and hid. He began to catch his breath when a strong hand covered his mouth. He held tightly to Kate, but struggled to escape the attacker's grip.

"Shh!" the man said.

Sawyer was too weak to figure out who the voice belonged to, but he was sure they were there to help. He gave up fighting, out of loss of strength and figuring the person wasn't going to hurt him. It was quiet. No one heard the monster. It felt like hours, but in reality, it was only about 3 minutes. The man removed his hand from Sawyer's mouth and stepped out in front. It was Jack. Boone and Charlie were with him.

"You okay, man?" Charlie asked him quietly.

"Let's get the hell out of here." Boone said.

Sawyer blinked several times to keep himself in a conscious state. His arms shook as he held Kate, and then he felt her being lifted out of his arms as Jack took her. Part of him was angry that Jack took her, but another part was relieved, knowing that, at the moment, Jack could take care of her. Immediately, he began to drift off. He felt as though death overtook him and everything disappeared. His mind clouded into blackness.

* * *

so i thought youd all like this chapter. a couple of nice kate/sawyer moments, and to evermore, i think theres gonna be more kate/jack moments in the next chapt that you will like, okay? and be patient everyone coz im still workin on chapt 22. yall finally caught up with me! and also, im writen another lost story. its called butterflies return someday and wont be posted any later than this week...hopefully. its a 75 chance. okay? so review please! 


	22. The Dream

NHRALUVER: _If there's any flashbacks or dreams, they're in italics, okay? Read on!_

**CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO: The Dream**

_He ran as fast as he could. An endless brush of trees and various shrubs stood in his way. With each step he took, another cut fell upon his body. He heard all the noises of the jungle within the trees. He continued to run and run. Finally he reached a cliff. It was quiet. No more evil sounds, no more trees, no monsters...just a calm atmosphere. He looked around. The grass rustled lightly in the wind. He could see the ocean from here. The sun was hiding behind the clouds, creating a calm wind. He could smell the ocean breeze. He looked around. He closed his eyes. From behind him, he heard rustling. He quickly turned around. Kate was standing there. She seemed to be looking through him. He approached her._

_"What are you doing here?" he asked._

_  
She didn't respond. For a moment, all she did was gaze past him at the ocean. Then, more rustling in the trees was heard. Out of the trees stepped a beautiful blonde woman. He couldn't recognize her at first, but then he realized it was her._

_"Jessica? How did you get here?" he asked._

_David stepped out of the trees with his son's hand in his. His son looked to be about eight years old, red hair, and freckles. Jessica began to back away towards the edge of the cliff, stepping backward as David came closer._

_"You lied to me, Jessica!" David cried out._

_"Wait! Stop! It wasn't her fault!" he cries out to David._

_David continued to back her away towards the edge of the cliff. He glanced over to the little boy and saw him watching his parents as they _

_walked towards the cliff. Finally, David pushed Jessica over the edge, and then fell off himself. He stood, stunned. He looked over at the little boy, who ran off into the trees._

_  
"Wait!" he called out. He started to follow after him._

_"It's your fault. You killed them." Kate said to him. _

_Her mouth barely moved. She continued to gaze into the ocean. Suddenly, a man stepped out of the jungle. He couldn't see the man's face. From behind his back, he removed a gun and pointed it at Kate. As he watched the man cock back the trigger, he fell to the ground from no apparent reason._

_  
"Kate!" he called out. Tears streamed his face. _

_He closed his eyes and the gunshot echoed through the jungle. Suddenly, he heard Jack's voice._

_"It's all your fault. You let it happen."_

_  
When he opened his eyes, Kate was dead on the ground, blood pouring from her chest. The man with the gun stood nearby, still not revealing his facial identity. Jack stood discretely apart from the murderer. He closed his eyes again and the whole world began to spin..._

"Stop!" Sawyer cried out. He awoke in a cold sweat. He opened his eyes and looked around. He was in the medical tent, apparently back at the caves. He could hear the trees of the tropical rainforest sway back and forth from a combination of the wind and the light rain that fell atop the tarp of the tent. He noticed that the gaping wound across his stomach had been sewn shut and wrapped with white bandage wrap. Jack entered the tent.

"She's not dead! It wasn't my fault!" he muttered.

Jack looked at him strangely. "What are you talking about?" He sat down next to him and handed him a water bottle. "Having a bad dream?"

"Where's Kate?" he asked immediately.

"She fine. She's outside near the fire."

Sawyer took a drink. "That was a damn brave thing you did, Sawyer." Jack said.

"What's that?"

"You could've died. But you saved Kate instead. And you're lucky to be alive."

He'd heard that before.

"Is she okay?"  
Jack shrugged. "Sprained ankle, a couple cuts. Nothing bad. How about you? That cut on your stomach didn't look so good."  
"It's fine." he said.

He slowly stood up. They began to exit the tent. Sawyer seated himself next to Kate as Jack went into the cave to check on the others.

"Hey." Kate said.

"Hey."

"How are you feeling?"

"No better than you are."

Kate smiled. "Thanks for doing that. That really meant a lot."

"It was easy." He grinned his cheesy grin.  
"Well, thank you."

Still smiling, he looked away. It made him happy to know that she appreciated something he did for her. Then, his smile began to fade as he recalled the dream he had. Did it mean something? It scared him. He prayed that it didn't mean anything, that it was just where his conscience and his present situation met up at. Apparently he had an awkwards face on, because Kate noticed.

"Hey..." she looked at him. He slowly met her gaze. "You okay?" She gently touched his shoulder.

He shook his head and blinked. "Uh...fine."

She knew he was lying. What was wrong with him? He cleared his throat and stood as her hand fell off his shoulder. He began to walk away.

"Where you going?" she asked as he began to exit.

"The beach. I'll see you."

With that, he disappeared. As she watched him leave, Jack seated himself next to her, taking a drink from the water bottle in his hand.

"He okay?" Jack asked.

"I don't know. He's acting strange."

"Well...how's your ankle feeling?"

She turned it at an angle where she could see it. "Not bad. Thanks for taking care of it."

"So...you wanna tell me the story?"  
"What story?"

"How it all happened?"

She sighed as she began her story. "I went to go bring Sawyer to the caves like you said I should do. He wouldn't come, so I started to head back and a couple trees fell on me. He came and pulled them off. We were looking for the caves and then we both got knocked out from another tree. A few hours later, I guessed, I was in a tree somehow. I thought maybe Sawyer brought me up there, but he wasn't there. Then someone pushed me out and that's how I sprained my ankle."

"Did you see who it was?"  
"No. I was barely conscious for a whole minute before I passed out down below. Then I guess that's when Sawyer found me and you found him."  
"Yeah. It was."

They both sighed and watched the fire flicker.

* * *

Sawyer was resting in his airplane chair back on the beach. At the beach it was calm and tranquil. The only thing that was bothering him was his dream. He thought it over several times and couldn't come to any logical explanation of it. He wanted to talk to someone, but then again, he didn't. They didn't need to know everything about him.

He sighed and leaned forward, rubbing his head. Leaning forward stung his cut, but he wasn't worried about that. Maybe the dream had no important meaning. Hopefully, was all he could think. Maybe he should go cool off. He stood and stripped his shirt off. He tossed it aside and waded into the ocean water.

His cut screamed and it stung. But he ignored it as he swam even deeper. He let his mind fade away and drift deeper into the ocean.

* * *

Kate sighed as she trampled through the jungle onwards to the beach. She had finally decided that she was going to speak with Sawyer. Whatever was bothering him had caused it to bother her as well. And it was annoying! Once she reached the beach, she headed for Sawyer's tent. She tried to peer in. 

"Sawyer? You in there?" she asked.

No response. She opened the tent flap slowly and stepped in. No one was there. She was a bit curious, but stepped outside. She looked around on the beach, but saw no one. She started to head back through the jungle to the caves when she finally glanced out towards the ocean and saw a figure of a human bobbing up and down. Sawyer!

"Hey, Freckles!" he called.

She grinned and folded her arms over her chest.

"You busy?" he called out.

"Why?"  
"Wanna come for a swim?"  
She shook her head and rolled her eyes, still grinning. "That's okay. I just showered."  
"Hell, don't let that stop you."

Even being so far away from him, she could see his evil grin.

"Are you - "

Suddenly, she felt a hand grab her, clasp over her mouth, and drag her away. It was a strong person. She struggled to free herself, and managed to muffle a scream. The person began to drag her off.

"Freckles!" she heard Sawyer scream.

She could slightly see him coming in to come to her, but she knew he wouldn't be there in time. She was dragged into the maze of trees.

"Freckles!" Sawyer called again.

He dove into the water deeper and swam as hard as he could. As he did, a million thoughts came to mind. Who was that person? Why had he taken Kate? And why did he have to be so stupid as to be out there? If only he would've known something was going to happen.

He quickly staggered onto land and ran in through the trees.

"Kate!" he called, ignoring the water pouring from his body.

"Sawyer!" a voice called.

Sawyer jerked his head in the direction. It was Jack. Jack approached him.

"What's going on?"  
"I don't know."  
"I heard screaming."

"Someone took Kate."  
"Why?"  
"You're asking the wrong person, Jackass. I was out for a swim. I was coming back to get her - "

"You were out for a swim?"  
"What about it?"  
"Dammit, Sawyer! Why?"  
"You think I planned it, Mr. Hero?"

Jack stepped threateningly close to Sawyer.

"I swear, if we find her, if there's one scratch, one bruise...it's on your hands."

Sawyer wasn't one to get hurt by accusations, especially ones coming from Jackass, but that did hurt him. How could he say such a thing? He had come to save Kate, but she was gone. It wasn't his fault. Jack was putting it off on him. Jack began to walk away when Sawyer grabbed his shoulder and spun him around.

"Check your scoreboard again, Jackass. As I recall, I had nothing to do with this until I started to go rescue her."

"It's your fault! You let it happen!"

Sawyer was too stunned to speak. As Jack began to jog away back to the caves, Sawyer stood in agony. That was what Jack had said in his dream. Was it coming true? He prayed it wasn't. He breathed deeply, released, and then headed back to the beach to gather some items to assist in the rescue of Kate.

* * *

OMG OMG OMG! Youguys, will you ever 4giv me? I am SOOOOOOOOOOO sorry i took so long to get this posted. Thanx for bein so patient wit me. I was so stuck, and ive been very busy lately. but now im gettin more ideas. ill post as often as possible. and to evermore, that whole thing with the j/k moments is a couple chapters comin. and guys, i finally think i found a way to end the story. itll have a nice lil twist. maybe a couple more chapts till the end so keep reading. youve been great fans.

and i got a question...its kinda a long one, but i really need someone to answer it...but ok, so ya know how i was tellin ya bout that story i was writen called butterflies return someday? well, its kinda a POV story about this girl. i kinda started at the beginning of the lost episodes and tied in my character and my plots with the original episode. and i put in some of the lines from the episodes, and i mentioned that i didnt own it in the disclaimer and all, yada yada, so...if i did the disclaimer thingy, thats not illegal, right? coz i dont wanna write a story illegally. i dunno...maybe im right, or maybe im paranoid, but pleaz just answer me ok? if it is a bad thing, i wont post the story. i just need to know...so yeah, keep reading the story!


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